Staying with Jack and Sally
by greeneyes00
Summary: Lock, Shock, and Barrel have been out of control after the death of Oogie Boogie. Finally enough is enough and they are focused to move in with Jack and Sally to hopefully keep them under control. I hope you enjoy!
1. Chapter 1

It was a perfect day in Halloween town, the temperature outside was neither too hot or too cold, it was just right, the pumpkin shaped like sun sparkled down on the spooky but also charming little town, if anyone could possibly ever get a good glance at the sun they could almost swear it had a small grin on its face. There was a slight breeze in the air that carried with it a nice aroma of rotting corpses, which to the living was a disturbing and disgusting smell but to the deceased was almost like a scent similar to lilacs. It was the kind of aroma that meant only one thing to the citizens of the town, spring was finally upon them. Of course they enjoyed the snow _Sandy Claus_ gifted them with, but like with every season it was always exciting to close the book of winter and move onto spring. Still months away, but getting closer and closer to the most wonderful time of the year, fall. When they could finally enjoy Halloween once again.

Yes the day was truly the perfect day. The towns people were out and about around town halls chatting with one another, and shopping around the small outdoor market they had, browsing the different potions witches had for sale, different bottles of blood types for sale by some of the towns vampires, some different spices for sale and just about anything else anyone could possibly need was there.

One thing a certain three were looking for on this particular day was the same thing they usually looked for no matter what the weather may have been like or whatever holiday it might be, and the only thing they were looking for was trouble. Yes Halloween towns _finest_ trick or treaters, Lock, Shock, and Barrel. They were the towns nightmare that continued even after Christmas, and with their leader Oogie gone leaving them with simply nothing better to do the trio was even more terrible then, they ever have been before.

Today they decided would be a fantastic day to climb on top of one of building directly below the vampires blood booth and sprinkle some garlic powder on them. Now that would be pretty amusing to watch they all agreed.

It was Locks idea, Shock planned it all out for him, and if things went wrong they would simply blame Barrel, though Barrel didn't agree with that logic he was the youngest and the smallest so he was the easiest to over power.

Lock dug through his red pockets to find the three small bags of powder. He fell into a small panic digging through all the pockets he had. When he checked everywhere's at least three times he restored to plan B.

"I can't find the powder!" He said to his two best friends, he darted his eyes at Barrel, "This is all your fault!" Lock snarled pointing at the little boy.

"Is not!" Barrel snarled back, tightening his tiny fists.

"Is too!" Lock growled back tightening his fist as well storming over to Barrel ready to deck him.

Shock rolled her eyes and stepped in front of Barrel shoving Lock away, "You forgot it on the couch." Shock explained to the devil boy, "Right as we were about to leave I noticed and I grabbed them and put them in my pocket." She dug threw her pink dress pockets and yanked out the three little baggies of garlic powder.

Lock looked at her with complete disbelief, his face turning as red as his outfit in annoyance, "So your telling me you just stood there like a dummy knowing you had the garlic, while I was freaking out trying to find it!" He slapped her hand off of his chest.

Shock stood firm in her place, she wasn't afraid of him, "You're the dummy, you should have remembered, you had one job and you still screwed up!"

"Yeah!" Barrel called pecking behind Shock, "So don't blame me!"

Locks eyes went from Shock to Barrel, then back to Shock. And without even thinking or giving it a second guess he shoved Shock. Like dominoes Shock fell backwards knocking Barrel over with her.

Shock was sitting on Barrel. It only took Barrel half a second to react.

"Get off me!" The little boy demanded, with surprising power pushed Shock off of his lap.

Because of being pushed, Shock ran right into Lock knocking him over.

Shock straightened herself up and quickly darted for Barrel for revenge for shoving her. Right when she got to Barrel, Lock had already gotten up and attacked her.

The three children soon became a scubaing, fighting, pushing, punching, screaming mess.

They were so loud everyone below looked up and noticed, and stopped there shopping just to watch the chaos. It was pretty amusing to be perfectly honest. The three little terrors of the town that had been causing everyone around them such misery were now punching, kicking, and pushing one another, couldn't be better!

Jack in his office at town hall heard all the screaming as well. He got up from his chair to go outside and see what on earth was going on. Right when he closed his office door the mayor came rushing over to him.

"Jack! Jack!" He said waving his arms, "Its boogies boys fighting on top of the house just across street! Come see!"

"What?" Jack said now puzzled, but not really surprised. If anyone in the entire town was to get into any sort of fight it would be those three. But why were Lock, Shock, and on top of a roof?

Jack followed the mayor outside and right away noticed the trio. They had quiet a little crowd looking up at them now, even the vampires that were their targets for their little prank.

But it seems as though the three children had forgotten all about their horrible prank, and were now more focused on how angry they were at one another, even though at this point they didn't understand why actually they were so determined to beat one another up.

Usually their fights ended when all of them got to restless too punch back, but they usually only fought at the tree house, this was their first time arguing on a roof, and none of them seemed to realize actually how dangerous that really was until Lock shoved Barrel off of him and Barrel fell backward off the roof and towards the street.

Lock and Shock right away stopped their mindless bickering and watching in horror as their best friend was about to fall to his doom.

"Barrel! Shock cried helplessly right before he tumbled off.

Lock and Shock rushed over to the side of the roof as carefully and quickly as they possibly could to check to make sure they're youngest and dearest friend was okay.

They took a fearful glanced down and took a big sigh of relief, but then a jolt of fear when they noticed the stern annoyed face looking up at them.

Jack Skellington, with one hand managed to catch the little boy right when he rolled off. As much as the trio had annoyed Jack, and made him just as much as the rest of the town furious these last couple of months, they were only children and he'd be absolutely heart broken if one of them was to seriously get hurt.

Jack's eyes were firmly on Lock and Shock, "In my office now." He ordered pointing to the direction of town hall with his free hand.

Lock and Shock straightened up and quickly hurried to the ladder to follow Jacks clear instructions. Once they were one the ground Jack set Barrel beside them and the trio followed Jack with their heads hung low.

Before the entered town hall Lock muttered, "I told you it was Barrel's fault."

To be continued. I hope you enjoy this! I'll update soon :)


	2. Chapter 2

**I do not own anything to do with nightmare before Christmas. Finally Chapter two, hope readers enjoy :)**

 _ **Chapter 2**_

Jack swung his office door open carefully watching the three children pile inside.

Lock, Shock, and Barrel took their usual seats in Jack's office whenever they have gotten in trouble and were caught. Locks seat was to the further right in front of Jack's desk, Shock in the middle, and Barrel to the right. Originally there were only two extra seats, but after the first time Jack called them into his office a fight broke up between the three over who gets to sit and who has to stay standing. And to the pumpkin king simply putting an extra chair in the room was worth it to avoid the arguing.

Jack took a seat at his desk quietly, his elbows on the desk and slipped his long fingers into one another and rested his chin on his hands. He looked at all the children individually before speaking.

"Whatever were you three doing on top of a roof?" Jack asked now being very soft and kind, "One of you could have been seriously hurt." He gestured to Barrel, "What if I wasn't there to catch him?"

"It was Barrel's idea!" Lock lied, in a attempt to get himself out of yet another lecture.

Barrel whipped his head in Lock's direction, "It was not!" The little boy snapped back.

"You're the one that shoved me!" Shock snarled pointing at Barrel.

The youngest trick or treater tried to defend himself best he could, "Yeah because you ran into me first."

"Lock pushed me!" She growled now her eyes on Lock.

"Yeah because you had the garlic and didn't even bother to tell me!" He snarled back.

Shock rolled her eyes, and barked back, "You're the one that forgot it!"

Jack gave an annoyed look to the three bickering children, but they didn't even notice. Jack put his hands-on his head, beginning to develop a headache.

 **"Enough!"** Jack said firmly. The moment after he spoke the childish fighting paused at that very moment, and three little faces nervously looked up at him.

Jack took a deep breath trying to remember where his lecture went off topic. He thought for a moment, back tracking through they're little squabble. _You pushed me, Barrels fault, ran into me, had the garlic_...garlic..?

The master of fright broke from his thoughts and quickly began to question, "What did you need garlic for?"

All three children fell blank, with was one of the rarest sites in all of Halloween town, not one of them said a single word to say.

Jack narrowed his eye sockets, taping his fingers against his desk impatiently. "I'm waiting," He said in an annoyed tone.

"What are you talking about?" Shock asked, a little nervous, but her face was expressionless.

Jack waved a long finger at Lock, "He just said and, I quote, you had the garlic and didn't bother to tell me." He paused for a moment, "I'll ask again, what did you need garlic for?"

The three still sat quietly, Jack looked them all over again trying to read their expressions. He stared Barrel down the most since he was the youngest and the easiest to read. Barrels face was covered in a mix of guilt, fear, and nervousness, something was deferentially up. Standing on top of a roof with garlic, why? What possible harm were these wicked three trying to cause this time.

Then it sunk in, the vampires blood booth was directly below the roof. Jack's head began to spin in fury from the wicked act these three children seen as a game.

The master of fright stood up and banged his skeletons hands-on his desk, "Do you three have the slightest clue what would happen if any type of garlic touched vampire skin!"

The trio now looked terrified, each giving Jack a tiny shake from their heads.

"You could have given them third degree burns!" Jack shouted, still in disbelief that they almost committed something so horrible.

"We're sorry Jack," Lock said sheepishly.

"Yeah we didn't know that." Shocked added nervously.

This did not ease Jacks angry, not at all. He has heard these meaningless apologies too many times to count. He did of course believe them for simply not knowing the true damage they could have caused, but then again they also didn't realize the harm they caused last week when they slipped deadly night shade into the witches tea right before they went flying on their broom sticks, causing the three ladies to each break one of their limbs. Or that time a couple weeks ago they didn't assume the doctor would end up in hospital when they cut the breaks on in his wheelchair, he's wearing that neck brace! And a month ago when they pushed the Mayor backwards down the stairs, giving him two black eyes on the happy face side of him, and nearly breaking his back! The list could go on forever. And with all those occasions what did they honestly think was going to happen? They knew perfectly well deadly night shade made people fall asleep, and they knew the witches always went flying after tea, how could they not _assume_ they wouldn't crash? And did they not _assume_ that cutting the doctors breaks and pushing the mayor down the stairs wouldn't seriously harm them? And everybody knows vampires hate garlic, so even though they didn't have the slightest idea it caused third degree burns, couldn't they have at least taken a wild guess and _assumed_ something bad would most likely happen?

"You knew enough to know that vampires don't like garlic!" Jack shouted. "So what would ever make you think it was okay to drop garlic on them?"

There was a silence in the room. The Skeleton man tapped his fingers on this desk waiting impatiently for a reply from at least one of them.

Finally Barrel found a tiny amount of courage to speak up, "No one ever told us we couldn't." He squeaked.

The other two scowled at him for such a pathetic excuse.

Jack stared at the little boy. Still burning mad at the three children, but couldn't think of a reply back to Barrels petty excuse. It still didn't make it right for what they had attempted to do, but in the bigger picture of things no one was really with them all hours of the day to tell them the difference between right and wrong, sure Jack tried, and his little lectures and yelling worked for a small amount of time and made for a quick easy fix, but it didn't really teach them anything other than to not get caught by Jack. None of them ever had a good role model in their lives, and no one ever really punished them. How can they know what is really bad when no one is ever around to correct and punish the behaviour. And how can they know how to be good when no one has ever rewarded them for it?

The pumpkin king stood up and looked at the three, his face soften, but still stern, "You're absolutely right," He said, which in return he got three puzzled faces. "Excuse me," He said now walking towards the doors, "You three." He pointed in the doorway, "Meet me back here in an hour," He said firmly, and in return received a terrified nod from each of them.

Jack hurried down the hallway to the mayors office. He stood in front of the open doorway.

The mayor noticed him right away, "Jack my boy, what is it?"

"Call a town meeting," Jack said.

"When?" The mayor asked slightly confused.

"Immediately." Jack ordered.

Finally do chapter 2. I'll update soon. If anyone is actually reading this lol tell me your thoughts, I'd love to hear them, good or bad.


	3. Chapter 3

**Thank you so much for all the wonderful reviews! It made my whole day! I got one review saying Jack was a little out of character, thank you so much for pointing that out, and I hope Jack is more in character in chapter 3. All the reviews were a pressure to read, thank you again! And I hope everyone enjoys Chapter 3 :). I do not own anything to do with nightmare before Christmas.**

 _ **Chapter 3**_

The citizens of Halloween town piled into town hall, grumbling while they selected a seat. Why in the world would the pumpkin king call a town meeting on such a nice day? No one wanted to be cooped up in a hot and sticky building, any other day sure, but not today.

Sally came wobbling into town hall, she was one of the rare few that actually looked happy about attending today. Sure she was enjoying the nice day just as much as everyone else, but if Jack called this meeting then, it had to be something important or at least interesting.

She stumbled into a seat in the front row. She wanted the best view of her beloved Jack. She grinned a little bit when she thought, what girl wouldn't want a good view of Jack? He was irresistible. She giggled a little bit at the thought.

The werewolf beside sitting beside, gave her a puzzled look. Right away Sally noticed, her cheeks blushed bright red from embarrassment, and quickly she covered her mouth.

Jack came out of the side door and stepped onto the stage, he stood in front of his platform and lifted one hand, "Listen everyone." He called politely to the audience, while the mayor shown the spotlight on the Pumpkin king.

The room quickly fell into a soft mumble, and then finally complete silence, with all focus on Jack.

Before Jack spoke anymore, he scanned the entire room to find Sally. When his eyes finally met hers, he gave her a heartfelt grin. It always made it easier for Jack to present his ideas to a crowd when he knew her loving gaze was somewhere in the room.

Jack cleared his throat, "Now most of you here probably know about the three ex boogies boys..." The master of frights sentence was interrupted by a tired, annoyed grown that swept through the audience. Jack struggled not to grin shaking his head a bit, perhaps like himself they knew a little to much about the wicked trio.

The skeleton man continued, "I am fully aware that they're little pranks have gotten a little, well, out of hand."

"That's a nice way of putting it." A unidentified voice grumbled somewhere from the middle row.

The tallest of the witches jumped up, showing off her cased arm, "Because of those three little monsters I have to wear this big ugly cast!"

The room started to fall into a chatter.

Jack raised a hand, "Please," He said with a small charming smile, "Allow me to continue."

The room fell quiet again.

"And as the Pumpkin king I think it's time we put a stop to, they're little pranks." Jack scanned the room, looking over at all the witches in casts, the doctor with a neck brace, and the Mayors two black eyes hunched over because of his sore back, "Before they kill someone..." Jack murmured under his breath.

"Jack's right!" A voice in the back row agreed.

"Let's push them down the stairs!" Another voice called out.

"And cut the breaks from they're little bathtub!" The doctor hissed.

"And break their arms and legs!" One of the witches chanted.

"Please, let me finish," Jack said calmly waving his long arms to try to quiet the crowd. Once they fell silent again, he continued, "I know how angry you all are, but you have to remember they are only children."

"So?" Someone snorted in the front row.

"So perhaps they don't know better." Jack explained lovingly.

"They knew not to take Sandy Claus to Oogie boogie and they still did!"

Jack cringed that statement because it was a little tough to defend, "I'm sure they had their reasons." He explained, "I'm sure they didn't think Oogie was going to harm Sandy." Jack lied.

"They're brats!" Someone shouted.

Jack gave a soft smile, and raised a hand, "They aren't as bad as we all think." The master of fright tired to defend the trio best he could, "They really are sweet kids, we just don't get to see that side of them that often, I am speaking for myself here, but if I lived with Oogie Boogie as long as they had to, I would be just as mean and nasty, or most likely worse, then they are." Jack scanned the room before continuing, "And I know there isn't a good enough excuse for all the terrible things they have done to most of you, but they are still children, and children learn from adults, the only adult they ever learned anything from was Oogie, and as we all know he certainly wasn't the greatest role model."

"So where are you trying to go with this Jack?" The Mayor asked innocently.

Jack looked up at him and gave the crowd a warm smile, "What I am trying to say to you all is, perhaps it's time we gave Lock, Shock, and Barrel a fair chance, and gave them a proper role model, someone to look up to, and respect." The skeleton man paused again, then gave a charming smile, "Maybe just maybe if one of you were too volunteer to invite them into your home for, I dunno perhaps month that would set them on the correct path."

Sally bit her lower lip trying not to cringe at the idea. It wasn't that it was a bad idea, it was a wonderful idea, and Jack's heart was in the right place, but it wasn't going to sit well with the town, not one bit, maybe a month or two ago, but the ex boogie boys have managed to press every single bottom the towns people had and have finally grated on they're final nerve.

Most of the audience sat with their mouths wide open in disbelief at such an insane idea. I mean a couple of months ago with the whole Christmas thing they thought Jack might have been crazy, but this idea was the icing on the cake, Jack was nuts. He had to be.

His idea was so ridiculous to the towns people that no one could find a single word to even say to the bizarre thought. The audience was actually afraid now to speak up, the crazy skeleton man might think they actually wanted to volunteer.

Jack stood with a big grin on his face scanning the room waiting for someone to jump at what he thought was the perfect plan. His smile got smaller and smaller, and things quickly became very awkward.

The Mayor cleared his throat, and right away everyone in the room including Jack turned to stare at him.

"If I may suggest an idea," He said nervously raising a hand, "As punishment for their actions in Halloween town I think it would be a good idea to lock up their tree house for at least a month, they can't use any of those dangerous toys they have if we lock them away."

"That's a splendid idea!" Jack said excitedly, but then turning back to the crowd and back to the Mayor, "But they would need somewhere to stay in the meantime, they can't just live on the streets for a month."

"Well Jack." The Mayor said a little shyly, "I think the best person to take on your plan of giving them a good role model would be you," He gestured to Sally, "And Sally," He said sincerely.

Sally blushed uncomfortably in her seat, looking away now from both Jack and the mayor. She hated the attention.

Jack turned to Sally, then back at the mayor, in a bit of disbelief, "Me?" He said now puzzled. Flattered of course, but still puzzled.

"They do listen to you Jack." The mayor said honestly.

The audience nodded in agreement when the pumpkin king glanced in their direction.

The mayor continued, "And both you and Sally are very polite people, almost a little to polite." He chuckled, "Why if you two couldn't rub off some of your good manners on someone then I don't know who else could."

"Why thank you," Jack said with a proud grin. He never thought of himself taking on such a task, it was his idea so he supposed it was only fair. He'd have to ask Sally first of course. But could they really handle the three of them?

"Sally?" Jack asked looking right at her.

Sally shyly turned and looked at her beloved Jack, "Yes?" She whispered shyly.

"Would you be willing to allow Lock, Shock, and Barrel to move in with us?"

All eyes in the room turned to Sally, which made Sally wish the floor would just open up and suck her in. Didn't these people have anything better to look at?

She tried to get over her shyness, and really think about Jack's question. She supposed if she could put of with the doctor, what were three kids? Besides she was sure they couldn't be that bad, they were only Children, right?

Sally gave Jack a nod, "Sure." She mumbled with a tiny smile.

Jack's face lite up at her answer.

Sally gave Jack a shy smile back, letting the boogies boys move in, well to say the least this was certainty going to be interesting...

 **I hope you guys enjoyed chapter 3, for me personally it was my favourite to write, though I'm really looking forward to chapter 4, so we can finally get this story rolling. I do apologize for not writing more, I just felt like this was a good way to end the chapter. Also I well update at least once every week if not sooner. If you have any thoughts I'd love to hear them! :)**


	4. Chapter 4

**Thank you for all the reviews! They were all a pleasure to read! Also a shout out to the person that suggested Sally sit down and talk to the trick or treaters about why she loves Jack so much, that is a great idea and I will definitely add it in one of my later Chapters. Thank you so much for the idea! I hope you guys enjoy chapter 4 :)**

 _ **Chapter 4**_

"Why do we have to go back to Jack's office!" Lock complained dragging his feet behind Shock and Barrel. "We're just going to get lectured again, like every other time."

Shock turned to him, "Because if we don't go back, he will find us and probably beat us black and green."

"You think he'd really do that?" Barrel asked.

"No." Lock mumbled.

Barrel ignored Lock and turned to Shock.

She just shrugged, "He is the master of fright, you just never know what he's going to do." Shock turned to Lock then back at Barrel, "That's why it is a good idea to stay on his good side and do what he says."

"He's not like Oogie Boogie." Lock snapped.

Shock stopped walking and turned to Lock and sighed, "Look I don't want to go back either, but lets just go and get it over with. If we don't go he's just going to find us. It is just easier this way."

"We'll be out of his office and back in our tree house in about a half an hour I bet!" Barrel trying to cheer Lock up.

Shock nodded in agreement, "Besides," She said, starting to walk again, "I am only about 20 steps to, town hall, and I'm not going to turn around."

"Me neither!" Barrel agreed happily.

Lock stood firm, with his arms crossed, watching the other two walked away ignoring him. _I'm not going, I'm not going, I'm not going!"_ He told himself as he watched Shock and Barrel now almost to the doors of town hall. He turned to the path back home, gee it would be kind of a scary walk home by himself, and with most of the town hating him...

Lock sighed, "Hey guys wait up!" He said chasing after his friends.

Jack sat in his office, with Sally taking a seat on his desk.

"I do hope we made the right decision Sally," Jack said, not really worried about himself, more for Sally. "I got caught in the moment, I had forgotten to warn you how much of a handful they really can be."

Sally just shrugged, "I lived with the doctor, according to him I was a handful, so maybe the boogie boys will meet there match." She gave Jack a tiny grin and winked.

Jack chuckled, and gave her a charming smile back, "Well I know for a fact if anyone could teach them how to be good, logical, and smart individuals it would be yourself."

"Oh Jack, stop it." Sally blushed, "I can feel my head filling with hot air." She giggled.

"Now don't be so modest, Sandy Claus even said himself you're the only one that makes any sense around here." Jack waved a finger at her, "I was just pointing out a fact, and you can deny it all you want, but the bottom line is my dear a fact is in fact, a fact." The master of fright gave her a smile that was a smile of only pure happiness and joy, "So do you believe me now?"

Sally returned the smile, "I suppose I have no choice now," She said in a soft sweet voice.

She started right into Jack's eyes ... or sockets, and the master of fright looked right into her eyes. Everything in the room was peaceful and it was just a moment of pure perfection. They both leaned in closer to one another, taking advantage of the perfect moment and lock lips.

Sally felt the room spinning around her, with her eyes closed she could feel Jack getting closer and closer to her. Her stomach became filled with pleasant butterflies, and her heart began to pound. She was ready for Jacks kiss, she was ready to feel like everything around her was paused, every time there lips met even if it was only for a second Sally felt this feeling she could not put into words, Jack felt it to of course, and it was a wonderful magical feeling. There lips were just about to meet one another when...

 **"Knock! Knock! Knock!"**

Right away both adults snapped out of the fog they were just in.

Kids voices could be heard from the only side of the door.

"Hey why do you get to Knock!"

"It was my turn this time!"

"Shut up!"

"Make me!"

"Come in." Jack called, shaking his head once more so he could think straight.

Lock, Shock, and Barrel quickly swung the door up, then stopping in their place, and all eyes on Sally, Three little faces having a puzzled look.

Lock spoke up, "What's she doing here?"

"We were just talking.." Jack trailed off, and paused for a moment. Right away his face brighten up, "Please, Please, sit down, I have news for the three of you." Jack gestured for them all to take their seats.

The trio took there seats, suspiciously scanning Jacks big grin, all three of them noticed a tad of nervousness in the master of frights face. Something was definitely up.

"Thank you," Jack said once all three of them took a seat. The pumpkin king put his elbows on his desk, sliding his long fingers into each other.

Sally awkwardly still kept his seat on his desk, struggling to look at the trio. When she did manage to get a glimpse of them, she gave them a shy smile. But three trick or treaters didn't notice. Their eyes were locked on Jack.

"Now," Jack said politely, "Just after I sent you three away for an hour, I called a town meeting." The trio still stared him down, so Jack kept talking. "I have noticed in the past couple months the three of you lack proper guidance." The master of fright gestured to Barrel, "Like you said earlier no one told you that you couldn't throw Garlic at the vampires that is absolutely correct." Jack paused for a moment, to check to see if everyone was still listening, he continued, "And as a town we feel it is only right to give the three of you the proper guidance to make sure you fully understand what is right, and what is, wrong. And..."

"Just cut to the chase," Lock said rolling his eyes.

Jack bit his lip nervously, this news wasn't going to go well, "The town has made the decision to ban you three from your tree house for a month as punishment for all the trouble you have inflicted on the citizens of Halloween town." No emotion whatsoever in his voice.

All three faces looked at him with complete disbelief.

"You can't do that!" Shock yelled jumping up from her seat, her face turning red with anger.

"That's our tree house! It belongs to us, you have no business locking us up from it!" Lock fired back, also jumping from his sit in completely outrage.

Barrel quietly got up from his seat, holding his lollipop, "Where are we suppose to live?" He asked innocently. Being the only one of the three that was more concurred then angry.

Lock looked at Barrel then back at Jack, "Yeah!" He hissed, "Don't you think it's a little harsh forcing three kids to be homeless for a month!"

"That's just cruel!" Shock added on.

Barrels face fell to more worry, "Its suppose to thunder and lighting tonight, where are we going to go?"

Lock and Shock turned to the little boy.

"Oh shut up they can't really lock us out!" Shock snarled.

Barrel turned to her, "But Jack said..."

"Ignore Jack!" Lock snapped, "There's no brain in that skull of his, he can't do anything!"

"Jack's an idiot!" Shock said shooting a glare in Jack's direction.

Sally looked at them unsure what to think. She expected they would be upset and angry, but she didn't imagine them to be this upset.

Jack on the other hand expected all of this. He put a hand on his forehead starting to once again develop a headache. At this point it made no difference to him what kind of name they called him, he just wanted the pointless childish bickering to come to a silence.

 **"Enough!"** Jack finally shouted, causing the trio to pause, and even make Sally jump a little bit.

Jack's face was only mad for a moment, so the three children would pay attention to him. Once he knew he had they're full attention, his face turned back to being calm and understanding.

"We're not just going to leave you three on the streets." He motioned to Sally, "We both agreed you can stay with us," Jack said softly.

"I'd rather be tired to a metal pole in tonight's thunder and lighting storm!" Shock spat.

"Yeah same here!" Lock agreed, then turned to the door, "I dunno about you two, but I'm out of here!"

"Good luck locking up the tree house if we're already inside bone brain!" Shock snarled following Lock out the door.

Barrels eyes blinked in fear at Jack and Sally frozen for a moment before turning to the door, "Hey guys wait up!" He called chasing after them.

Once they were gone Sally turned to Jack, "Oh no Jack!" Her face becoming nothing but worry, "That was awful! Do you think they hate us?"

Jack looked at her, his face unreadable, "I don't know," He said simply, "But they are going to hate us a lot more when they get to the tree house and realize the Mayor and the werewolf packed all there clothes in there bathtub and have already locked them out..."

It was about 10:00pm and the thunder and lighting storm had just started. Lock, Shock, and Barrel after many failed attempts failed inside their home. It was useless, the Mayor and werewolf locked up their caged elevator, and when they managed to climb up a couple branches, only to realize all windows were bored up.

The stood under the tree with the bathtub, all of them tired, wet, cold, and hungry.

"They could have at least packed us our candy!" Shock growled.

Barrels stomach growled, "J-Jacked a-and S-S-Sally might feed us." The little boy shrived.

"No way I'm going there!" Lock hissed.

Just then the loudest crack of thunder roared, shaking the ground beneath their feet.

Out of fear of the terrible noise Lock jumped and hid in the bathtub, quivering. "T-That o-one sounded p-p-pretty close," He said, pecking his head up.

"Maybe we could still go over to Jack, and Sally's house," Barrel suggested, looking at Lock, then turning to Shock.

Another burst of thunder roared again, this time frightening Barrel, who quickly leaped in the bathtub. Both boys were now inside they're strange little bathtub shaking with fear, looking at Shock.

Shock looked at them with complete disgust, "You're both babies! Its just thunder, thunder can't hurt you!"

Just then a jolt of bright yellow lightning hit a tree just meters away from the three children.

Shock watched in terror as the tree became engulfed in flames.

"But lighting can!" She shrieked, now joining her friends. "Let's get out of here!"

And with no questions asked, the bathtub now carrying the three ex boogie boys moved in full speed to skellington manor

 **Sorry if chapter 4 was a little disappointing, I just didn't want to make this chapter too long, and I felt like this was when I should end it. Chapter 5 I promise they will be moving in with Jack and Sally. It just takes awhile to get to the main plot, but I promise I'll get to it! Anyways I do hope you enjoyed this chapter. I'd love to hear your thoughts and feelings, and even suggestions. Thank you guys!**


	5. Chapter 5

**To start off I would like to dedicate this chapter to Gothic girl, I'm so sorry for your loss, stay strong beautiful 3. Also I want to give a big shout out to all my readers and to everyone that has reviewed this story, thank you so much! I love reading the reviews, it makes my entire day! Enjoy chapter 5 everyone! I do not own anything to do with nightmare before Christmas.**

 **Chapter 5**

Rain pounded like pebbles being thrown against the window. Sally watched threw the living room window, worry covering her face.

"It is sure coming down out there," The rag-doll said. "I hope they're okay."

Jack was sitting down in his armchair reading a book. He wasn't worried, not yet. The ex boogie boys were stubborn, but they would give in. Barrel would be the first to snap, Lock and Shock were both pretty stubborn, but out of the two of them whoever snapped first the other one would follow shortly after.

"We'll wait another half an hour before we look for them, if that's alright with you?" Jack said, still reading his book.

"They might be dead in a half an hour," Sally said, with nothing but concern.

"Sally," Jack said, now setting his book down, "They survived living with Oogie Booige, a little rain won't hurt them."

Sally turned to Jack, "Lighting can hurt them."

Jack chuckled, "Lighting hits the tallest thing it can find, they are only what 3ft tall in a forest fill with trees. I'd get struck by lighting before any of them," Jack gave Sally a playful grin, but Sally wasn't amused whatsoever.

Jack stood up, "Okay, Okay," The master of fright said trying to make the peace, "Your right, your right, I'll go grab my jacket and go find them, but I want you to stay here my dear just encase they come here first."

"Oh no Jack," Sally walked over to him, "I can go looking for them really, and you stay here."

Jack smiled, "No my dear, it is quite chilly outside, I wouldn't want you to get a cold."

"But I don't want you to get struck by lightning," Sally said, still worried.

Jack gave her a huge grin, and tried his best not to laugh. He was touched she was concerned over him, he just found it amusing how serous she was over his stupid joke.

"Sally, I'm flattered really," Jack explained, "But I'll be fine, I mean I'm already dead so what's the worst that could possibly happen?" He gave her a charming grin.

She couldn't help, but smile back. She loved him so much.

Jack gazed into her beautiful eyes, she was so gorgeous, how was he so blind a couple of months ago? Maybe he was what one of the ex boogie boys called him earlier today, a bone brain. He couldn't understand how someone as wonderful as Sally loved such a bone brain like himself. Jack has never felt this happy before, he loved someone that was truly amazing and she loved him back.

He leaned in to give her a kiss goodbye.

Sally closed her eyes and puckered up, finally back to where they left off earlier today. Her heart began to pound, and there lips were just about to meet...

 _ **"KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK!"**_

Jack and Sally both snapped their eyes opened and turned to the front door.

"I wonder who that could be." The pumpkin king grinned at Sally, before going to the front door.

"What do you suppose the mayor wants at 10 o'clock at night?" She asked sarcastically, raising an eyebrow.

Jack laughed, as he walked into the entry way.

 _ **"KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK!"**_

"I'm coming, I'm coming," Jack said almost to the door.

On the other side of the door Jack could hear the three children bickering like usual.

"There is a doorbell moron!"Shock hissed.

"I can't reach it stupid!" Lock snarled back.

"You're the stupid one! Stupid!"

"Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!" Lock taunted.

"You want a black eye!" Shock hollered.

Jack opened the door, to the three soaking wet trick or treaters all of them looked frozen, and tired. But Shock still had enough, energy in her to grab Lock by the collar of his red shirt, ready to punch.

"Hey, hey," Jack said waving his long arms, "none of that."

Shock glared at Jack, then let go of Lock, causing him to tumble over.

Jack reached a hand to help the boy up, but Lock just slapped it away.

"I don't need your help!" He snarled getting up by himself.

Jack opened his mouth ready to say something to the boy, but Barrel spoke up first.

"C-c-can w-we c-c-c-come i-in J-Jack." The little boy shrived.

The master of fright turned to the youngest member of the ex boogie boys. Unlike the other two Barrel looked afraid and just a little helpless.

He gave the small boy a sympathetic look, "Of course," Jack said warmly gesturing all of them to come right in.

Barrel was about to walk in first, but Shock shoved him over and stormed in. When Barrel got up in an attempt two to go inside, Lock shoved him back over and followed Shock. Barrel got up for a third time, grabbing onto the bathtubs rope and stepping into skellington manor, grumbling something to himself along the lines.

 _"Those big dumb bullies, I always have to do everything..."_

Jack watched the youngest child walk past him and join the other two. He couldn't help, but smile a little bit before closing the door. The pumpkin king took a sigh of relief. He felt bad for even thinking this, but he was glad they showed up, instead of him going out in this terrible weather.

Sally came stepping out of the living room, and moved as fast as she could (which wasn't fast at all) over to the three soaking wet children standing in the middle of the entry way.

"Oh my," She said, now worrying again, "You three should get out of those wet clothes as soon as possible." She bent down to the trios level, her voice very sweet and loving, "Once you've changed I can bring all of you a blanket, and make some hot chocolate with marshmallows, and I baked some chocolate chip cookies today that I'm sure you would all enjoy." She gave them all a warm welcoming smile.

Barrel was the only that gave her a tiny smile back. But the other two had stone cold angry faces.

"Not happening!" Lock spat.

"We just came here to get out of the rain!" Shock snarled.

"Since you and Jack thought it would be funny to leave us sitting in the rain!" Lock added on, turning to Jack giving him the death glare.

"We don't want you're stupid cookies!" Shock hissed.

Barrel raised a hand, "I would," He said shyly.

Lock and Shock both turned to Barrel, "Shut up! The two oldest trick or treaters said at the same time.

"Just show us where we can sleep tonight," Lock said, tapping his foot in annoyance, looking over at Jack.

Sally had stood up straight, and fell completely silent, and her heart sunk. No one had ever talked to her so poorly before. Had she insulted them? She was only trying to be nice.

Jack looked over at Sally, and felt a massive amount of hurt in his heart for the way she probably felt. She didn't deserve to be yelled at or disrespected. He wasn't surprised how cold they were towards her at all, and if they yelled at Jack instead it would be a different story because they have spoken to him in that way too many times to count, it didn't hurt his feelings because they were only children and he was the adult. But Sally was more sensitive, and Jack knew her to well and knew they had hurt her feelings.

"Can you at least apologize to Sally?" Jack asked simply.

"How about you apologize to us for locking us out of our tree house!" Lock shouted, Shock beside him nodding in agreement.

Jack sighed, taking a deep breath, "I do sincerely apologize for the three of you, not being allowed back into your home for a month. I understand this all must be very frighting to you all, but me and Sally are here to help you and be kind to the three of you. We're not here to be your enemy, but your friends."

"We're not friends with people we hate!" Shock snarled.

Jack took a deep breath, he had to remind himself they were in fact only children. Children that were tired, cold, hungry, and angry. They didn't understand that both him an Sally at heart only wanted to help, they viewed it as they were cruel and mean for not allowing them to go inside their home, which Jack understood. He didn't expect them to come into their home with open arms and be three little angels. Jack knew they were going to be furious, he just hoped they would take it out on him and not Sally, because none of this was her idea or fault.

Jack knew yelling at them at this point would be useless. They were already clearly upset, and had a miserable day. If they just wanted to go upstairs and sleep with nothing to eat before bed that was their own stubbornness making their horrible day even worse, it wasn't Jack's or Sally's fault.

"I'll show you too your room then," Jack said softly, his face nice and calm, which made Lock and Shock even more mad.

All three of them followed Jack upstairs, Lock and Shock walking beside each other, muttering to themselves how much they hated Jack, and Barrel close behind tugging on the bathtub.

Jack opened the door to one of his guest rooms, "I plan to give you all your own rooms, but on short notice I didn't have time to clean up the other two rooms so I hope sharing one will do for now.

The three children piled inside the room, the room was almost completely empty, and the walls were white, with one big window. Against the wall directly across from the door was three air mattresses each with a pillow and all three air blown beds made.

"I promise the three of you will get real beds, those old air mattresses are just temporary."

Lock walked over to the mattress to the further left, and sat down, "Our own beds are comfier!" He growled.

Shock took the middle bed, taking a seat, "And smell better." She added on.

Barrel was digging threw the bathtub tossing clothes around everywhere inside the tub, finally he found what he was looking for, and tugged on Jacks suit.

Jack had narrowed in on the other two, just simply annoyed at how rude they were being. When he felt something pull at him he looked down to find Barrel. He had almost forgotten the little boy was even here he was so quiet.

"Where can I change?" Barrel asked, holding his pjs.

Jack gave Barrel directions on where the washroom was, and the youngest boogie boy hurried on his way.

Lock and Shock were now both jumping on their best for a contest of whom could jump the highest, clearly not noticing the water from there clothing was making the bed soaking wet.

Not that Jack really cared at this point, the mattresses were old, and if they popped it didn't make a difference. And if Lock and Shock wanted to sleep on a flat cold wet bed all night that was their own choosing. Jack might have explained to them why they should cut it out, but with their attitudes, and the way they snapped at Sally, the master of fright couldn't think of a single reason why one night in a flat wet bed would hurt them. Perhaps it would teach them for next time, and hopefully have a little more respect for the new beds Jack planned to buy them for tomorrow.

"Barrel can show you on where the bathroom is when he comes back," Jack said, in a helpless attempt to, get Lock and Shocks attention. But they ignored him, he knew for a fact they had heard him too. The pumpkin king yawned, "Well goodnight then," He flicked off the light and slowly closed the door, but leaving a small opening for when the youngest trick or treater came back.

"Hey!" He heard the two oldest ex boogie boys snarl.

"Turn the light back on!" Lock yelled from the bedroom.

Jack couldn't help, but grin while walking down the stairs, listening to Lock and Shock scream at him to return, they can ignore him, he can do the same thing. It was almost a bonus for him since none of the ex boogie boys were tall enough to reach the light switch. And hopefully since they were too stubborn to take Sally up on her offer, they would get tired of sitting in the dark and just fall asleep instead of mouthing off.

When the pumpkin king got down stairs, he found Sally sitting at the kitchen table, she looked as though she was ready to burst in tears.

The pumpkin king pulled a chair out and sat down, moving the chair over to her, and putting a comforting arm around her.

"Hey what's a matter?" Jack asked, giving her a concerned look, but he already knew why she was upset.

Sally couldn't bare to look him in the eye, she didn't want to start crying, "Did I do something wrong?" She asked, her gaze locked on the table.

Jack shook his head, "You didn't do a single thing wrong Sally. They were just tired and cranky and chose to take it out on you."

"Well maybe I should have been more welcoming." The rag-doll said, now pulling at a loose thread in her dress.

Jack shook his head, "No Sally, don't think that, you were wonderful."

"Do you think I hurt their feelings?" She sighed, "They said they hate us."

Jack looked right at Sally, "My dear you said nothing even close to offending anyone, and they don't hate you. Yes they might hate me, but not you." The master of fright chuckled, "They can't hate you, they barely even know you."

"I just want to help you Jack."

Jack pulled her closer, "I couldn't ask for a better helper, and that is the honest truth."

Sally still felt bad about what happened, but her dearest Jack made her feel a lot better. She turned and looked at him, he was looking right into her eyes, and even though she was still a little upset she couldn't help, but smile, he had a way of just making her so happy.

Jack was smiling back at her, moving a little closer, "Now where did we leave off earlier?" He said, grinning a little wider before closing his eyes and puckered up.

Sally followed his lead, her heart pounding out of her chest, how she loved Jack's kisses. His lips were only a hair length from hers...

"Jack? Sally?" A little voice squeaked.

The pumpkin king snapped his eyes open and whipped his head around, furious of being interrupted for a third time today.

In the kitchen doorway stood a tired, and hungry Barrel in his white and blue stained striped pyjamas.

"Shouldn't you be in bed?" Jack asked, struggling to keep his voice calm.

Barrel stared at the floor, swinging one of his deformed feet lightly, "I just wanted some cookies and hot chocolate," He said, now glancing over at Sally. "I'm hungry, and I can't go to bed. Lock and Shock kicked me out of mine because both their beds are all wet and they went all flat."

Jack couldn't help, but feel a little bad for the child. Out of the three he was the only one that didn't bark at him or Sally, and he was the only one that didn't jump on his air mattress.

The master of fright got up from his chair, "I'll go get you something else to sleep on, and find you dry blankets." He walked over to the doorway, and pasted Barrel, but then paused, "Are Lock and Shock coming down stairs to?"

Barrel shook his head, "They fell asleep." His tired eyes widened, "Don't wake them up, please," He begged, "If they find out I was down here, they will kill me!"

Sally got up from her seat, "We won't," She said softly. Barrel turned to her, and she gestured for him to take a seat, "Sit down, and I'll get the cookies and make you some hot chocolate."

Barrel shyly took a seat, while Jack went upstairs to try to fix the boy's problem. Sally quickly and happily got to work. She felt ten times better and a weight lifted off her shoulders that at least one child accepted her offer. And it made her heart bubble with more joy when she pulled a seat across from him and watched him gobbled down her cookies and hot chocolate.

"Good cookies," Barrel said with a mouth full of food before taking a big gulp of his hot chocolate, "And hot chocolate," He said after lowering the mug.

"Thank you," Sally said sincerely, and gave him a warm smile, which in return he gave her a tiny childish grin.

The rag-doll felt so much better about herself, and was just so thrilled at least one of them three seemed to like her.

 **Hope you guys enjoyed chapter 5. I'm pretty sure this is my longest chapter yet, and there was still stuff I wanted to add to it, lol of well I'll put the rest in chapter 6. Hope everyone enjoyed it, and thanks again for all the wonderful reviews, and if you have any thoughts or feelings towards this story please make sure to tell me :). Also I don't name any of my chapters, but if you guys find that annoying at all I can certainly change that, let me know :). Thanks again guys! Chapter 6 will be coming soon!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6 is finally here, yay! I struggled a lot with this chapter, but its complete and I think it fits good. I hope you all enjoy it! And thank you so much for all the wonderful reviews, means a lot guys! Anyways lets get on to chapter 6! Also I own nothing to do with nightmare before Christmas.**

 _ **Chapter 6**_

Jack had managed to sneak into the bedroom where the other two ex boogie boys were sound asleep in the air mattress that was supposed to be Barrels. The master of fright grabbed one of the deflated beds and the wet blankets and quietly and quickly hurried out of the room.

He simply tossed the blankets in the dryer for a couple minutes, and manged to find where the hole was in the bed, and patched it up, and blow it back up. It was going in the garbage tomorrow, but it would do for tonight.

He placed the bed back in the room, made the bed as fast as he could without making a sound, then tiptoed back downstairs.

Sally was finishing up the dishes, humming happily to herself.

Jack stood in the doorway and just stared at her for a moment, he couldn't help, but smile from seeing her so happy.

But his face quickly fell straight and worried when he realized what was missing, from this picture.

"Where's Barrel?" He asked, sounding a lot calmer than he really was.

Sally turned around from the dishes and smiled at Jack, pointing to the direction of the table.

The pumpkin king looked in the direction she was pointing. The sight he saw in front of him, was just so cute, it made even the master of fright smile.

Barrel had fallen asleep, and was just a tiny snoring ball curled up on the kitchen chair.

"I just started doing the dishes, and I turned to look at him, and he was asleep," Sally whispered, still grinning brightly.

Jack still looked at the boy for a second before turning to Sally, "I'll carry him up to bed." He whispered back, lightly walking over to the table.

The pumpkin king scooped the youngest treat or treater in his arms, and quietly carried him upstairs, cringing every time he stepped on a step that creaked, but Barrel stayed peacefully asleep.

Jack walked back into the bedroom, and over to the bed. Pulling the sheets away with one arm and holding the child in the other. He placed Barrel in the warm bed, and tucked him in, still smiling.

"Goodnight." He whispered, softly, before turning to the other two that were also sound asleep.

It looked at though Lock and Shock just laid down on the bed fell asleep right where they sat down. Neither one of them under the covers, Shock still had her hat on, though the two of them seemed to find the time to change into their pajamas. Locks head wasn't even on a pillow, he was just sprawled out on the bed, taking up most of the room, and his head hung over the side. Shock was nuzzled in a ball, teetering on the side of the bed with the pillow. One turn and Shock wold fall flat on the floor, and is Lock stayed asleep with his head over the bed like that, tomorrow he'd wake up with a terrible neck pain.

Jack gave the two a small grin and sighed. He first went over to the other bed that was broken, and picked up the extra pillow. He went back over to Lock and Shock, firstly lightly pulling the blankets down from underneath them. When he did so, he carefully picked up Shock, and set her down again, closer to the centre of the bed, he lightly lifted her head and tucked the pillow underneath, and took her hat off and placed it carefully on the floor.

The master of fright then lifted Lock up, and set him down next to Shock, and tucked the extra pillow underneath his head. He then pulled the blankets up and tucked the two ex boogie boys in.

He tiptoed to the door, and turned just to peak at them once more to make sure they were all still asleep and looked comfortable.

Jack couldn't help, but feel a little bit of pure joy at the precious sight in front of him. They were three little monsters awake, but asleep, they were total perfection. They weren't that bad of kids, they were actually pretty good kids ... when they weren't mouthing off.

"Jack." A sweet soft voice whispered behind him.

The pumpkin king turned around, to find his beautiful rag-doll girlfriend.

"I'm going to go to bed," Sally whispered.

Jack nodded, "Same here, I was just checking to see if they were alright." He whispered back, now softly closing the bedroom door. "I'll walk you to your room."

"Thank you," Sally smiled.

"You are very welcome," Jack said polite as ever. There was a small pause, "Do you know what Sally?"

The rag doll turned to the pumpkin king, "What?"

"I come to realize I like, Lock, Shock, and Barrel a lot more when they are asleep and not talking."

As hard as Sally tired not to laugh, she couldn't help, but give Jack an amused grin, "That's a terrible thing to say." She giggled.

Jack wrapped an arm around her, "Oh you know I'm only kidding. I think they're alright."

Sally raised an eyebrow, "Just alright?"

"Okay, okay, they are three little angels."

Sally giggled again, "They are pretty cute you have to admit.

Jack nodded in agreement, "Yes they are pretty cute kids." The pumpkin king thought for a moment, "I am positive they will mange to keep us busy for the next month."

They both stopped at Sally's bedroom door, and the rag doll couldn't help, but grin.

"What is it?" Jack asked, grinning back.

"You're already dead, what's the worst that could happen?"

Jack roared with laughter, "You have a good point," He said still laughing.

They were quiet for a moment, Sally turned to the door, "Well, goodnight," She yawned.

The master of fright, gave her a light kiss on the forehead, "Sweet dreams."

"Same to you Jack," Sally said with a tired smile.

Jack had then went to his room. Right when his skull hit the pillow he instantly fell asleep. It certainly has been a long day...

A couple hours later, Shock was tossing and turning in bed.

"No, no, no." She muffled in her sleep.

She stood by the tree house, flames surrounding her, she tried to run, but there was nowhere to go. She turned to the tree house, and noticed a jolt of lighting strike it, and the only place she ever called home became swallowed in flames. The fire was getting closer and closer, she couldn't breathe the smoke was getting to her. Struggling to breathe, and unsure on where to go to save herself, she gazed up, seeing lighting darting right towards her...

Shock snapped her eyes open, breathing heavily, wildly looking around the room ... It was only a dream. Just a bad, horrible, terrifying, dream.

She looked beside her to find Lock sound asleep, and noticed Barrel snoring in the distance. At least she wasn't all by herself, but after something so scary it seemed impossible to fall back asleep. And if she woke the boys they wouldn't be much comfort, they would just laugh at her, and most likely call her a big baby for an entirety. Every time she looked in the corner she thought she noticed smoke, or fire. She never felt so afraid before, what happened? Fire and lighting never scared her before?

But none of that really mattered at this very moment. She was quivering, exhausted and hungry. She wanted to curl up in a ball and just cry, but she couldn't. Not around Lock and Barrel.

So, she did the only thing she could do. She pulled the blankets over her head, curled up in a shaking nervous ball and struggled to hold any tears back. It was impossible to fall back asleep, so she stayed in this position until morning...

 **I do apologies for this being so short, in all honestly it was originally shorter but I added some parts to it, honestly all of this was suppose to be in chapter 5, but I didn't want to make chapter 5 crazy long, so sadly chapter 6 took the hit because its too short. But chapter 7 will be on its way, and mostly likely longer! I do hope everyone enjoyed this little chapter, in my opinion its the cutest. Tell me your thoughts, I'd love to read them!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7 is finished! Yay! Sorry it took so long everyone. I want to give everyone who reviews a huge thank you! I love reading them! I hope everyone enjoys chapter 7!**

 **I don't own anything to do with nightmare before Christmas.**

 _ **Chapter 7**_

Sally was in the kitchen, cheerfully humming to herself while stirring up pancake batter, with zero curled under the table. Jack had left for town earlier that morning to pick up the new beds. He wanted to leave and come back as soon as possible, before the trio woke up, so it wasn't Sally's job to deal with the three of them all at once by herself. He might be the master of fright, but he wasn't that cruel.

The thought did though cross his mind to take them with him a little later, but he really wanted to surprise them, plus taking them with him, too town, well for some odd reason that just seemed like a horrible idea. He was sure if he brought just one with him it would be manageable, but three at once in a furniture store with an owner that hated them, would just add some unneeded stress to Jacks busy day.

The master of fright set the three new beds in his garage, he planned to bring them inside a little later today.

Sally had just finished making a ridiculously large amount of pancakes, and placed them on the kitchen table.

Jack came stepping in the kitchen right when Sally was setting the table.

"That's quite the stack of pancakes you have there Sally," Jack commented, with a wide grin.

Sally set the last plate at the table, "It's better to have more than less."

"I like your logic my dear," Jack said taking a seat at the table, "Everything looks wonderful! You worked far to hard on breakfast."

Sally took a seat across from Jack, "Not at all," She said shaking her head, "Pancakes are simple to make."

Jack took a pancake and slid it onto his plate, "Well my dear, from how delicious these look, to compare to anyone else making pancakes it would be the most challenging thing in the world to match yours.

"Why thank you," She said also placing a pancake on her plate. "Do you think Lock, Shock, and Barrel will be joining us for breakfast?"

"I'll go ask," The master of fright offered ready to get up.

"Oh no Jack," Sally said, jumping right out of her chair, "You showed them to the room last night and tucked Barrel in, it's only fair if I take my turn."

The pumpkin king was ready to protest, but Sally wagged a finger at him.

"I cooked the meal, I should be the one allowed to invite people to eat it," She raised an eyebrow and gave Jack a small grin.

Jack looked at her blankly for a moment, he supposed she was right, and he had nothing clever to say back to that, "Alright then," He said simply, ending they're short battle of politeness.

The rag doll wobbled her way upstairs and to the closed door of one of Jacks many guest rooms. She was just about to knock on the door, but remembered to take a quick deep breath, she didn't want to be upset, like she did the other night. It seemed as though Barrel was quite fond of her, but more than likely around the other two the youngest trick or treaters, he will refuse to admit that, which Sally understood. The rag doll just had to keep reminding herself that they knew nothing about her really, and had no real reason to dislike her. Sally's intentions were too only be their friend and nothing else, and it was their issue if they rejected that, not hers.

She knocked lightly on the door. "Lock," She said softly, "Shock, Barrel, are you awake?"

"No." She heard what sounded like Shock snarled back, snickers from the other two followed.

"Well I made pancakes," Sally stammered shyly, "I was hoping the three of you would join us for breakfast."

Lock and Shock were ready to protest, while Barrel just sat on his bed waiting for them to answer her, secretly he was hoping they would agree.

Lock was ready to reject the rag dolls genius offer, but his growling stomach cut him off.

"Fine," The tiny devil snapped back, "We'll be down stairs in 10 minutes."

Shock clinched her tiny fists together, angry that Lock would agree. He hated Jack and Sally just as much as she did. Some leader of the group, he was an idiot!

"Lock!" Shock hissed ready to argue with her friend.

He turned to look at her, a mix of defeat, restlessness, and annoyance on his face, "What?"

"How could you..." Shocks growling stomach cut into her sentence.

Lock raised an eyebrow, tapping his foot wait for a response, "How could I ... what?"

"Say ten minutes!" She stuck her nose up, while picking up her dress and hat from the floor. "Moron."

Lock had his mouth open ready to answer, but was interrupted by Barrel.

"Dibs on the bathroom!" He called rushing out the door.

Lock and Shock both snapped their attention to the youngest trick or treater.

"You don't get dibs!" Shock yelled chasing after him.

Lock snatched his clothes up and followed the other two, "Neither of you get dibs! I do!"

Barrel managed to reach the bathroom first, but with Lock and Shock right on his heels. He slammed the door shut, locking it as soon as possible. Lock and Shock rammed right into the door, and fell backwards on the floor.

The youngest ex boogie boy couldn't help, but giggle after hearing the other two run into the door, "And they think I'm the dumb one" He snickered to himself.

The two older trick or treaters soon recovered, and began banging on the door and yelling.

"Just wait until you open that door," Lock threatened.

"I'm going to knock your head off!" Shock yelled.

"Youngest first." He called back to them, while quickly getting ready.

Lock stopped hammering on the door, "That means I'm next," He said proudly.

Shock paused from pounding at the door, and turned to Lock, "No I'm next!" She shouted.

"I'm six, your seven, youngest first, oldest last."

"Middle kids don't count," Shock explained, "No one cares about the middle kid."

Locks face became almost as red as his hair, and he clenched his fists together, now getting in Shocks face, "Tall stupid girls go last," He growled.

"Ladies first," She mocked.

"Your no lady! You're a moron!"

Shocks face became just as red as Locks, and she also clenched her fists together.

Barrel pecked behind the door, but the two ex boogie boys didn't even notice. A fight was ready to break out, and though he loved to watch Lock and Shock duke it out on each other, he thought it would be best to take his chance and sneak away before they both teamed up and started whaling on him.

Barrel crept pass them and ran for his life downstairs, before they noticed he was already gone.

The skeleton like boy wobbled into the kitchen, he took the same seat he sat in the other night, with a plate already set in front of him. Sally happily pasted him the plate of pancakes, and he grabbed two and plopped them on his plate. He reached for the syrup and drowned his food in it.

He ate as though he hadn't eaten in weeks.

Jack sitting at the table, now with his coffee and reading the paper, pecked up at the small child.

"Where are the other two?" He asked before taking another sip of his coffee.

"Fighting over the bathroom," Barrel said with a mouth full of food.

Jack set his coffee down and folded up his paper, "Barrel would you please go upstairs for me and tell them their breakfast is getting cold?"

Barrel looked terrified at such a request, "But they said they would knock my head off."

Sally who was just finishing her meal looked at Barrel, "Now why would they say such a terrible thing?" She asked softly.

"Because he took the bathroom first!" Shock hallowed, storming into the kitchen.

"And slammed the door in our faces!" Lock growled, following Shock.

"You were chasing me!" Barrel said, defending himself.

"Well now we're really going to knock your head off!" Shock threatened.

Barrel squealed in fear leaping from his chair ready to take off. Lock and Shock ran towards the small boy, but came to an instant stop from Jack extending his right arm.

"Enough of that," The pumpkin king yawned, still blocking Lock and Shock from Barrel, "The three of you sit down and just eat your breakfast, it's getting cold."

"But he started it!" Lock pointed to Barrel.

"Did not!" Barrel called back.

"Did too!" Shock argued.

"I don't care who started it, I'm finishing it, so all of you take a seat and eat your breakfast, and no more of this nonsense," Jack said, in a more stern voice. It was too early in the morning to listen to such childish bickering.

Barrel returned to his seat at the end of the table beside Sally. There were two empty chairs between where Sally sat on the side, and where Jack sat at the end of the table.

Shock took a seat right beside Sally, and Lock took a seat between Shock and Jack.

Jack eyed the trio to make sure everything was now fine, once everything seemed to be okay, he unfolded his newspaper again, and sipped on his coffee.

Sally had also watched the trio carefully also, to make sure everyone was calmed down and happy. Once she decided the air was completely clear, she smiled and sipped on her tea, and flipped through her cookbook to try to find the perfect recipe for a chocolate cake she planned to make later today.

Barrel kept a sharp eye the other two for a moment, to make sure they weren't still mad at him, then didn't appear to be, so the youngest ex boogie boy continued to happily eat.

Everything seemed to be a perfectly peaceful morning, until Lock and Shock both reached for the plate of pancakes at the same time.

Both of them having a death grip on the plate like it was the only food they had to survive, both shooting deadly glares to one another.

"I call dibs first!" Shock said trying to pull the plate away from him.

"You don't get dibs!" He hissed, also trying to rip the plate from her grasp.

"Ladies first," Shock said holding her nose in the air.

"Your no lady!" Lock yelled.

"Oh yeah!" Shock barked

"Yeah that's why I can do this!" With his free hand Lock elbowed Shock right in the eye.

But that didn't even phase the young girl, with one hand she managed to punch the devil in the nose, and hauled of and kicked him from under the table. Lock had kicked back and throw punches back.

The table began to Shake, Sally dropped her book, trying to hold on to glasses and the good dishes to prevent them from toppling over.

"Lock, Shock," Sally said softly, but it was impossible to hear her over the ruckuses.

Barrel had watched in amusement, snickering to himself. Lock and Shock battles were always the best to watch, better then wrestling on TV.

Jack, had tried to ignore their little fight in hopes they would solve it themselves, without getting violent, but with this group that seemed next to impossible. Would they ever learn it would be much simpler to wait turns instead of fight to be first all the time?

"Lock, Shock, stop it!" Jack barked, stopping them before they broke something.

The two oldest trick or treaters listened to Jack's request instantly, both of them still had their death grips on the plate.

"Ladies go first," Jack said simply, which caused him to get a look from Lock.

"She's no lady!" Lock yelled, how many times did he have to repeat himself today?

"Just do it." Jack sighed, "Please."

Lock didn't look convinced, so Sally spoke up.

"I'm making chocolate cake tonight, if you give Shock the plate first, I'll give you the first piece of cake." She gave him a soft smile.

Lock thought about the offer for a moment, it seemed fair enough, but he was still allowing _her_ to win for right now. He freed the plate from his grasp deciding he'd get his revenge later, his eyes beamed at the syrup, grinning to himself. He knew how he'd get his revenge.

he snatched the syrup, waiting for Shock to be done with the plate, when she looked to be done Lock ripped it out of her hands.

The pumpkin king watched them for a moment, once they looked to be calmed down, Jack continued with his newspaper. Sally went back to her cook book, smiling to herself. She couldn't help, but feel a jolt of happiness bubbling through her. She solved the bickering by herself, and in her book that was a reason to smile.

Once Lock selected his pancakes, we went to put the syrup on, barely tilting the bottle.

"Hurry up stupid!" Shock said, annoyed, he was only slowly putting the syrup on, on purpose.

"I had it first you're just going to have to wait," Lock mocked, still slowly putting the syrup on drop-by-drop.

"You can tilt your arm more you know, it might go a little faster," Shock said, tapping her fingers in annoyance on the table.

"I know how to put syrup on my pancakes."

"Then hurry up!" Shock barked.

"Shut up!" Lock yelled, trying not to grin. He was bugging her, and he loved that it was working.

Shock looked furious, "Times up!" She snarled, attempting to rip it from his hand.

Lock reacted quick and held it away from her with one hand, and holding her back with his other hand. He deviously laughed as he watched a raging Shock trying to throw punches at him. It was the perfect moment, nothing was better then getting on Shocks last nerve. Everything was great until he felt a much stronger grip rip the syrup away from him. Lock snapped his head around, ready to yell at whoever took it from him.

"Hey-!" He paused when he meant the gaze of an angry Jack Skellington.

Jack placed the bottle beside him, with his paper folded up once again. He just wanted to enjoy the morning at least, was that so much to ask for?

The pumpkin king picked up Locks plate, and placed it beside him at the end of the table.

"Lock, move your chair over beside me." Jack ordered firmly.

"She tried to grab it from me!" He hissed back, crossing his arms, refusing to move.

"You were the one trying to instigate," The pumpkin king said, still in a stern voice, "Now I won't ask again, come sit over here, or go upstairs without breakfast."

Lock narrowed in on Jack, he wasn't going to listen to him. Jack wasn't the boss!

"You can't make me." Lock talked back.

The master of fright wasn't going to fight with the boy, he had two choices, he could decide for himself, "One..." Jack said.

Lock crossed his arm and shook his head, he wasn't moving.

"Two..."

Lock scanned the master of fights face, he looked dead serous, he wouldn't really send him back to the bedroom hungry, would he? Why would anyone do that to a kid?

"Two-and a half..."

Lock heard his stomach growl, he didn't want to go back upstairs! This wasn't fair. He looked at Jack's face one more time, though his face stayed serous.

Jack opened his mouth to say three, Lock noticed and quickly jumped from his chair.

"Okay! Okay!" He said, now pulling his chair, "I'm moving relax!"

Shock and Barrel snickered as they watched Lock take a seat between Jack and the wall.

"Shut up!" Lock hissed, now sitting right beside the pumpkin king. He felt his checks get warm, this was so embarrassing, and unfair. Lock had gotten in trouble too many times to count, but never just him, and he hated it.

The master of fright picked up the syrup, "Tell me when to stop," He said, pouring it on the boys pancakes.

Lock pouted at Jack, he didn't even want to speak to him, until he noticed his pancakes almost floating in syrup, "Stop," He muttered under his breath.

Jack stopped, and pasted the syrup to Shock. He eyed the three children, Shock seemed to be happily eating, Barrel had reached for the plate of pancakes again, and Lock jabbed at his food still pouting, but at least he wasn't fighting with anyone. The master of fright took a big sigh of relief, Finally he could sit down, enjoy his paper, and his coffee, which by now was cold as ice. But at this point he did not care all he wanted was some peace and quiet, which he could finally have and enjoy.

 **"BANG! BANG! BANG!"**

 **"JACK!"** The mayors voice cried.

Everyone at the table, even Sally, watched the now extremely annoyed Jack set his coffee down and crinkle up his newspaper and toss it aside. The master of fright stormed out of the kitchen.

Lock turned his head to the others, mostly looking at Sally with a puzzled look.

"What's his problem?" He asked, just so innocently, Sally couldn't help, but give the devil boy an amused grin.

But when Shock also added on to his question, The rag doll couldn't hold back a small giggle.

"He must have woken up on the wrong side of the bed or something," Shock said.

"He looked as though he was ready to fight," Barrel said.

Lock rolled his eyes, "I guess some people, all they want to do is fight."

"Not us!" Shock said cheerfully.

Sally had to cover her mouth and it took everything she had not to burst out laughing...

 **I hope you really liked this chapter everyone. My next update might be chapter 7 and a half because there is still so much I wanted to write, but I thought it would be way to long. I hope none of you are getting board of this story, I love writing this story so I want to make sure you guys are all enjoying it. Please tell me your thoughts and feelings, I'd love to read them! I'll update soon promise! Have a good weekend everyone!**


	8. Chapter 7 part two

**Finally a new chapter! Wow is it just me or did this take forever! I think I'm just getting a little discouraged from the smaller numbers of views I got from my last chapter BUT the story must go on, and I really appreciate everyone who has taken the time to review my chapters. You guys are wonderful, and I'm not stopping until I complete this story! Hope everyone enjoys chapter 7 part two!**

 _ **Chapter 7 part two**_

Jack sat down in his home office (where months ago he tested experiments to try to understand Christmas)

The mayor was in a state of panic, covering Jack's desk with piles upon piles of papers for next Halloween. He was rattling on about something to do with what theme Halloween should be this year. Jack could not figure out why Halloween needed a specific theme, wasn't Halloween a theme all by itself? But when the pumpkin king suggested this year's theme for Halloween to be simply Halloween, the mayors head spun around at least eight times.

"But what kind of Halloween!" The mayor screeched with worry, "There is murderous Halloween! A trail of blood Halloween! Lost in the woods with a mad man on the loose Halloween! Zombie Halloween! Monster mash Halloween! Ghost busters Halloween! It's the great pumpkin Charlie Brown Halloween! Corpse Bride Halloween! The list could go on and on Jack!"

The master of fright thought for a moment, still not understanding why Halloween needed a theme, "Well.." He said trying to think of what to say, so he could better comprehend why this was causing the Mayor to get so upset, "What was the theme last year?"

"The average person stuck in a job they hate, but can't leave," The Mayor blurted out.

Jack frowned, "Well that sounds like an awful theme."

"On the contrary it was our most terrifying. Some commented that it was so relatable to their own lives, that's what made it so horrifying." The mayor said simply.

Jack was so dissatisfied to hear the Mayor say such a thing, he thought it was best to change the subject, "We never discussed a theme before, so why do we have to this year?

"Don't you remember how big of a disaster Christmas was? It was because no one discussed a proper theme, and we just all assumed it would be a nightmare before Christmas theme, and we all know far to well how terrible that went."

Jack just took a deep breath, it was just not the kind of stuff he really wanted to deal with today. Sure he appreciated the Mayor worrying about all this stuff, but just because Christmas was a disaster doesn't mean next Halloween will be, Jack may not know much and may have made many mistakes in the past, but he does know Halloween, and each Halloween he's ever done has been a success, and he sees no reason for anyone to worry that this year won't go as planned because it always does, and it is always great.

"Well Mayor," Jack said trying to fix the issues to calm the Mayor down, "How about a trail run, we'll plan a smaller celebration like a ball, pick a theme, see how the night goes and if it goes well that will be our theme for Halloween. We can have this ball in perhaps a week or two. If that is alright with you?"

The mayors head turned to the happy side, "Wonderful idea Jack!"

"A ball?" A small voice squeaked by the stairway, sounding awfully familiar.

"Shut up!" Two older voices hissed in a whisper.

Jack turned to find the three ex boogie boys attempting too hid below the staircase, which failed from Shocks hat.

"You might as will come up," The master of fright said simply, "We both know you three are there."

Jack couldn't help, but smile a bit when the three kids toddled up to his office with their heads hung low thinking they were in trouble.

The Mayors face turned stone cold at the three children. He looked at Jack, confused on why he actually looked happy to see them, he didn't really like them, did he? How could anyone like such wicked children, like themselves?

The master of fright opened the top drawer in his desk, if he remembered correctly, he had some candy canes still left over from Christmas. Once he found them he took three, closed the drawer and held them out with one hand to the trio, "Here," Jack said with a warm smile, so they knew he wasn't mad at them. They have done far worse things in the past then eavesdrop.

They were hesitant at first, but soon Barrel was the first to give in, and the other two followed. Each of them snatching a candy cane from Jack's palm, ripping the candy open in a matter of a second and parking them in their mouths.

Each child now happily licking and sucking on a candy cane.

"What kind of candy is this?" Lock asked, happily eating.

Jack looked at the young devil, "Something from Christmas town, Candy canes I believe."

"They're good!" Barrel shouted with a huge grin.

Jack couldn't help, but smile back, "Glad your enjoying them."

The Mayor cleared his throat, "Well sorry to interrupt, but we should really get back to work, if that's okay with you Jack."

Jack was about to speak, but got cut off.

"Why do we need to have a dumb ball?" Shock asked, still slurping away.

"What's so dumb about a ball?" The pumpkin king asked.

"They're too girly!" Lock spoke up.

"And boring!" Barrel added.

"Well in that case," Jack said, looking at all three of them with a soft face, "Our conversation won't interest the three of you in the slightness. So perhaps you should find another way to amuse yourselves," He said with a loving voice

"But there's nothing else to do," Lock said, rolling his eyes.

"And we're bored," Barrel whined.

"Yeah," Shock yawned.

The Mayor looked at the three of them with annoyance, Lock noticed and stuck his tongue out at him.

Jack sighed, and looked at the three board faces. He didn't disagree with them, there wasn't much fun things for a child to do at Skellington manor all day.

"You could ask Sally if she needs help with anything," Jack offered, and with no surprise got a face from all three of them. He thought for a moment, "How about you read a book, I have a couple Christmas story books."

"They are probably all about Sandy Claus," Barrel mumbled.

Shock raised an eyebrow, "And Sandy Claus hates us, don't you remember?"

"I wonder why," The Mayor rolled his eyes, which in return he got a growl from the three ex boogie boys.

Jack cleared his throat to get the trick or treaters attention away from the Mayor, "I have other books," He offered.

"Reading is boring!" Lock groaned.

The master of fright tapped a bony finger on his check, he supposed not everyone was a fan of reading like himself. He didn't even have any toys for them to play with, though he doubted normal toys that didn't light on fire, blow up, or cut something up, most likely wouldn't amuse them anyways.

That's when a wonderful idea came to Jack's skull, how could he not think of it before. He pulled out another drawer from his desk and yanked out a pile of plan white paper, an eraser, and some pencils.

"Here," He said holding out what would soon be their source of fun for a little while.

The trio looked at him as if he had three skulls instead of one.

Jack gave them a small grin, "I want you three to each draw me what your dream bedroom would look like," He said, handing Shock the paper, Lock the pencils, and dropped the eraser in Barrels hands.

"Why?" Lock asked, His face matching the puzzled look of the other trick or treaters.

Jack got up, "You complained to me that you had nothing to do, now I'm giving you something to do," He said now lightly shooing them toward the stairs, "So go downstairs to the kitchen, and draw me exactly what you'd want the perfect bedroom to look like, make sure to add lots of detail, and if they look really good, Sally just might put them on the fridge, to show off."

The trio was now walking down the stairs when one last thought popped in his head.

"But," He called, "Nothing dangerous, or any weapons or gore."

He heard a groan from the three of them, as the continued to walk down stairs, what were the suppose to draw now?

"None of us can even draw," Shock complained.

Once Jack knew they were downstairs he turned to his seat across from the Mayor.

"They must be driving you crazy," The Mayor piped up.

"They're really not that bad," The master of fright said, trying to cover up how rude they were the other night, and the constant bickering in the morning. Really what the Mayor had just witnessed was nothing compared too earlier.

The Mayor gave Jack a face, "Well it's only been the first morning."

"Give them a chance." The pumpkin king shrugged. The Mayor might be right, and he might be wrong. But someone had to actually believe they were okay kids. And besides they were still only children, why was everyone being so judgmental? If they didn't change within the month, they would eventually grow out of this stage and become well-behaved teenagers...Right? ...

Lock tossed the pencils on the table, and planted himself in Jack's chair at the end of the table, putting his elbows on the table and holding his head up with his left hand. "This is stupid," He complained.

Shock set a sheet of paper in front of him, before taking a seat beside him, which was also where she sat at breakfast. "Nothing dangerous!" Shock mocked trying to sound like Jack.

Barrel sat down in Sally's chair right beside Shock, and rolled the eraser to the centre of the table. "Or weapons," Barrel said, also trying to impersonate Jack, "Or gore."

"Hi I'm Jack and I like boring, dumb things," Lock said, trying to mimic the pumpkin king, which got a snicker from the other ex boogie boys. Which started a new game, trying to sound like Jack.

A couple minutes went by before Sally overheard them. She walked over to the kitchen entry way and listened to them for a moment, and couldn't help, but giggle a little bit. But after a couple moments went by she thought she should see what they were up too.

"Hi," She said warmly, walking in. Which put a quick stop to their little game, "What are you doing?" She asked with a warm smile.

"Jack wants us to draw a picture of our dream bedroom," Lock announced.

That made Sally smile even more, she knew actually what Jack was trying to do. "That sounds like fun," She said, with her hands-on the back of Barrels chair.

"But we can't draw," Barrel whined, turning to her.

"This is worse then cleaning" Lock complained, throwing his pencil on the floor.

Sally walked over, and picked it up off the floor, "Now," She said brightly, "Don't be like that, this is supposed to be fun, and easy." She set the pencil beside him again. "You can put anything you want in it."

"Jack said nothing dangerous," Shock pointed out.

"And no weapons," Lock pouted.

"Or gore," Barrel sighed.

"So what are we suppose to draw?" Shock asked, glancing up at Sally.

Sally pointed at Shocks blank piece of paper, "Well I'd start with a bed." The rag doll said simply.

Shock scowled at her simple answer, but followed her directions and drew a rectangle on her page, the boys soon after followed Sally's instructions. Six eyes all turned to Sally.

"Now what?" Lock asked.

The rag doll looked over at there plain rectangles that were supposed to be beds. "Jack likes a lot of detail, so how about you add what kind of headboard you want for your beds, and pillows, and what kind of pattern you want on your blanks, and what colours."

"We don't have any colours," Barrel said.

Sally smiled at him, "I have some in my craft box, I'll go get them, keep working away," She said brightly hurrying out the room. She soon returned with a box of markers, crayons, and pencil crayons.

"Who wants what?" She asked holding out the three boxes in her hand.

"Dibs on markers!" Shock yelled, raising her hand. Sally smiled and handed them to her.

"Dibs on the pencil crayons!" Lock said, raising his hand. Still smiling she gave Lock the box.

"Then I call dibs on the crayons!" Barrel said, waving his hands in the air to get the rag dolls attention. Sally lightly laughed, and gave him the box.

Soon the trio became busy happily working away at drawing the perfect bed for, they're perfect room. The rag doll watched for a moment. If only she had a camera, to take the first photograph ever of them being constructive, instead of being destructive.

She thought such good behaviour deserved a reward. She hurried over to the cupboard and put together a plate of chocolate chip cookies that she still had left over from last night. She went back over to the table and set them in the centre.

"Please help yourselves," She said warmly, now taking a seat beside Barrel. Not that Sally had to tell them since all three of them already snatched up at least two cookies each.

"My bed is going to be dark purple," Shock said, nibbling on a cookie, "With light purple polka dots."

"Mine is going to be red, with black pitchforks," Lock said, before gobbling down his cookie in one bite.

"Mine's going to be black with skulls," Barrel murmured, with a mouth full of cookies.

And with that, they all went busy to work on there drawings. Sally watched them add dressers, and desks, and chairs, and curtains, and tons of other things to their bedrooms. They even coloured the walls.

Shocks room was actually a lot more girly, then Sally expected. It was coloured light purple, with dark purple curtains, she added what was supposed to be a white make up table, with a matching white dresser, and nightstand, a dark purple fluffy looking chair, and one of those fluffy dark purple rugs. Her bed headboard was also white, and her bed was purple with pot a dots.

Locks room didn't surprise Sally as much, the walls were blood red, with one wall black, his bed board black, with a red blanket with black pitchforks, one black curtain, and one red curtain, a black chest at the end of the bed, with his name written in red in the front, a tall black dresser with golden handles that matched the nightstand, a black desk, with a red computer chair, and a strange looking red thing on the side of the desk.

"What's this?" Sally asked with a smile, pointing at the red shaped object.

"A lava lamp," Lock said.

"Why?" Shock snickered.

"I like Lava lamps!" Lock hissed.

Sally grinned, "Very nice."

Barrel waved his picture in front of Sally, "Look at mine!" He called excitedly.

Sally took Barrels picture, and happily looked it over.

His room looked more like an actual child's room, it was green with a light blue wall, His bed board was a light brown, his blanket was black with multi-coloured skulls, there was a multi-coloured rug on the floor, with a light brown dresser with colourful handles, and a night stand to match, a multi-coloured lamp, curtains that matched the blanket, a light brown bookcase that didn't have books, but was shelved with a jar of lolly pops, a gumball machine, some toys, and to finished of the room Barrels name over the bed.

"Beautiful Barrel, All of them are wonderful really, you all did a fantastic job," Sally said sincerely, still looking at the three lovely pictures, "How about you go upstairs and show Jack, and I'll get lunch ready."

Each child snatched their pictures and rushed out the room excitedly. Sally listened to them storm up the stairs, and smiled a bit shaking her head. She turned to the table and began to pick up the markers, pencil crayons, and crayons.

Meanwhile Jack sat at his desk, trying not to show in his face how bored he really was. That task was becoming almost impossible, after listening to the mayor babble on for at least two hours. He couldn't help, but sometimes move his gaze to the window, there was so much he had to do today he didn't have time for this. He was already behind scheduled.

"Jack! Jack! Jack!" Three kids voices yelled excitedly running up the stairs.

The master of fright was actually thrilled to hear them, Finally a break from the mayors never ending squeal. Though the Mayor didn't look impressed one bit.

"Look what we made!" Barrel said excitedly, showing off his picture, with Shock and Lock quickly doing the same.

"Can I see them?" Jack asked, holding out a hand.

The trio handed over their pictures to Jack, and the pumpkin king carefully laid each one on his desk in front of him, and happily looked them over, "These are truly marvellous, the three of you did a magnificent job!" He praised.

The three ex boogie boys couldn't help, but smile proudly.

"Does that mean Miss Sally, will put them on the fridge?" Shock asked.

"Actually I'd like to hold on to them for a little while, if that is okay, I just think they are so fantastic, I can't stop admiring them," The pumpkin king said brightly.

"Sure!" Lock said, and the other two nodded in agreement.

"Wonderful!" Jack said, "Now would you three mind going downstairs and telling Sally the mayor is staying for dinner please?"

Without an argument the trick or treaters rushed downstairs. Once Jack knew they were out of earshot he turned to the Mayor, and pointed to the pictures.

"Could you do a huge favour," The pumpkin king whispered, "Could you pick up every single thing in these pictures for me and bring them back here after lunch? I would myself, but I don't want to leave Sally home alone with them, and I want it to be a surprise."

The Mayors face turned to the happy side, "Why of course Jack!" He said sounding actually excited.

The rest of the day, Jack was busy working away at the three different bedrooms, and bringing things in the house, without them noticing, which wasn't an easy task.

Sally had tried her best to make things as easy as possible for Jack, and kept the trio busy playing hid-an-go seek with them all day down stairs. By four o'clock Shock had gotten so tired she fell asleep on the couch, after she fell asleep Lock and Barrel said down in the living room playing with whatever paper they had left from earlier, constructing spit balls, and paper airplanes. So Sally took the opportunity to get supper ready, and bake her chocolate cake.

When dessert from supper was finally done, with only two fights this time around, which was a lot better then dinnertime which was a total of six fights, four of them though were partly the Mayors fault...

Jack could finally unveil his big surprise. When he noticed they were done their cake he smiled at them, "I have a surprise for each of you," He said excitedly, getting their attention right away, "Go upstairs, and look for the picture you drew today they are each taped on one of the doors, and once you find look inside."

Without even questioning why, all Lock, Shock, and Barrel, heard was surprise, the trio rushed upstairs, pushing and shoving one another to look for their pictures.

Once each child found their pictures and opened the door, Jack and Sally could hear their squeals of excitement seeing their new rooms that looked identical to the rooms they drew earlier. It was the best gift anyone had ever given them!

 **I hope you all enjoyed this. I know I got a review that sometimes Jack yells a little to much. I do apologies if sometimes he is out of character, I'm just holding onto the part in the movie when he did yell at them. But I hope he's more like himself in this chapter. Let me know :) Anyways thank you everyone, I promise to update soon. Chapter 8 will be on its way!**


	9. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8 is complete! Yay! I would like to give a big shout out to all my wonderful readers, and all the fantastic reviews! I'm so glad you all enjoyed my last chapter when the trick or treaters drew pictures, I mean I'm in art college so of course I had to add something to do with drawing! I hope all of you enjoy chapter 8!**

 **I don't own anything to do with nightmare before Christmas.**

 _ **Chapter 8**_

The first night sleeping in their own new rooms was mostly a success, until around 4:30 in the morning when Shock woke up from another nightmare about lighting. She pushed her new purple chair over to the light switch, stepped on top of it and flicked on the light. She fearfully inspected the room. It didn't look like any lighting or fire was coming out of the closet or under the bed. Though she still wasn't fully convinced. Sleep had now become impossible, so what was she supposed to do now? She turned to the door, a wide grin grew on her face, she snickered to herself, carefully opened the door and tiptoed out to the hallway.

Lock had been tossing and turning all night as well. Not because of nightmares, but for other reasons. He felt this sickness in the pit of his stomach, not actually sick, but completely disgusted with himself. He hated Jack, and he hated Sally, he was such a moron the other day, letting the two of them get away with actually telling HIM, Shock, and Barrel what to do. Lock felt as though he was the one to blame, he let his guard down, and the other two just followed along. He was a boogie boy! Not Jack and Sally's pet! They had no right to boss him and the others around! The nerve of them!

"Lock?" Shock whispered, peeking threw the door.

Lock jumped up, seeing Shock in the darkness, "What are you doing in here?" He hissed.

"Shh!" Shock snarled, "I couldn't sleep," She said now taking a seat at the end of the bed.

Lock sighed, "Me neither."

"Really?" Shock said brightly, did he have nightmares too?

"Yeah," The young devil spat, "I was thinking about how much I hate Jack, and that stupid rag doll! What's her name? Sally?"

"Oh," Shock whispered, disappointed in his answer, not that Lock noticed.

"The nerve of them," He gripped, "They are treating us like we're Zero or something!"

Shock raised an eyebrow, "What do you mean?"

"Telling us what to do, where to sit at the table, what to do, giving us new rooms, why? Just so we'll behave for them? They are trying to control us Shock!"

Shock put a hand under her chin and thought about what her friend had just said. She didn't want to be controlled by anyone, ever! She didn't have to behave for anyone! Huh! As much as it scared her to say this in her head, but Lock was right! She didn't need or want Jack and Sally making the rules and telling her how to act! Crossing her arms, she growled "I do whatever I want, when I want."

"That's right!" Lock said sitting up, "Let's go get Barrel, I got a plan."

Barrel was sound asleep in his new room. Snoring happily away, having a wonderful dream he found a door with a huge lollipop on it, he went inside and was in a strange holiday land that celebrated lollipops. He was just about to be named king of this amazing world when something jerked him in his sleep.

"Wake up you big baby!" Shock hissed, with Lock violently shaking him.

"What," Barrel groaned. "I wanna sleep," He whined.

"We gotta talk to you." Shock whispered.

"Why?" Barrel cried, with his eyes still closed, "I'm tired."

"Jack and Sally are trying to control us," Lock announced, trying to get the youngest trick or treater to listen.

That didn't really phase Barrel though. He had put up with Lock, and Shock telling him what to do ever since he could remember, at least Jack and Sally were actually nice to him. Plus in the last two nights he spent at Skellington manor he's never been hungry, Miss Sally always made sure he had enough to eat, and Jack had manged to give him a cozy warm bed for the last two nights. So if this was what being controlled felt like, he really didn't mind at all.

"Come on Barrel, wake up," Shock said pulling at his blankets. "This is serous."

Barrel groaned, if he didn't get up they'd never leave him alone, "What?" The small boy yawned rubbing his tired eyes.

"Jack and Sally had their fun, it's our turn," Lock said deviously with Shock nodding in agreement.

"What are you even talking about?" Barrel grumbled.

"We just said! They're trying to control us stupid!" Shock hissed.

"I'm not stupid," Barrel protested, now sitting up, "How are they controlling us?"

Lock raised and eyebrow, and whispered in his younger friends right ear,"First it starts with cookies, and candy canes."

Shock whispered in his left ear, "And games, and new things.."

"And if you're good they will promise to give you more.." Lock added.

"Then they will just make you work and become their ..."

"Their robot," Lock said grimly.

Barrel shoved is two older friends away from him, "What are you idiots talking about?" He rolled his eyes.

Lock spoke up, "Look at it this way Barrel, when you train a dog when it's a puppy and your just training it how to roll over it gets a treat right?" Barrel nodded, so Lock went on, "And once it starts to listen better it gets less treats, right?" Barrel nodded again, so the devil boy kept going, "And what happens when it finally learns to roll over after you tell it to so many times, and it does?"

"You stop giving it treats!" Barrel blurted excitedly, confident in his answer. Lock and Shock looked right at him, had he said something wrong? He thought about what his friend had just explained to him, what did training a dog have to do with Jack and Sally? And treats? Well, Jack gave them a candy cane today, and Sally gave them cookies when they were colouring? The youngest trick or treater froze, "We're like the dog?" He whispered.

Lock and Shock nodded.

The youngest ex boogie boy thought more into what his friend had just explained, Sally and Jack were trying to train them! And sure now it was good, but soon enough they would cut off all treats if they continued to follow their rules! Barrel was a trick or treater, He didn't want to be robot!

He jumped right out of bed, and hurried to the door, "Well what are we waiting for?" He said in a panic.

"Calm down stupid," Shock hissed, "Get dressed, and meet us downstairs," She turned and grinned at Lock, "Locks got a plan."

Barrel hesitantly walked back over to his friends, "W-what kind of plan?"

"A little revenge on the mayor firstly," Lock said, "And to prove to Jack and Sally we're not their minions."

"That we can do whatever we want when we want, and we don't care what anyone thinks of us," Shock added.

The three ex boogie boys smiled deviously at each other. They have been cooped up long enough in Skellington manor, it was now time for some real fun...

Lock was the last one to meet the other two at the entry way, he was busy gathering up all the eggs in Jack's fridge, to bring with him. Shock and Barrel were waiting for him, each with a handful of toilet paper that they stole from the bathrooms.

The oldest boy shoved by them and swung open the front door, "Let's go," He announced excitedly.

Shock looked him over, noticing right away something was missing, "Where's your coat stupid?"

Lock turned to her scrunching up his nose, "What are you my mother?" He turned back to outside, "Come on, before Jack wakes up!"

Barrel happily followed behind. Shock stood there for a moment, glaring at her stupid devil like cohort. "Freeze to death then," She muttered, "Get sick, and see if I care." She was starting to wonder who the real dumb one of the group was. At least Barrel had enough brains to put a jacket on. The young girl rolled her eyes, finally giving in and following her friends.

Lock had explained his mastermind plan to his two best friends, first they were going to break into the Mayors office, break and ruin everything as best they could, then they were going to teepee, and egg town hall, and if they had enough time, rummage threw Jack's office as well.

Barrel picked up the biggest rock he could find, and with as much power he had thrown it right at the Mayor's office window. Shattering it first try.

"Bull's-eye!" He said proudly.

"Nice!" Lock praised.

"Come on dummies!" Shock said, running over to the broken window, the others soon followed.

Lock and Barrel gave Shock a boost first, Shock pulled Barrel up, and the oldest and the youngest ex boogie boys helped Lock up.

They all had a devious grin on their faces, looking at the perfectly neat office...

Jack was sound asleep, having a wonderful dream about this year's Halloween. All the citizens of Halloween town were happy, even the Mayor. Lock, Shock, and Barrel were there to, they were behaving, dressed nice, and they actually looked like they were enjoying themselves. Oh, and Sally was there to. During the whole dream Jack had a small little box in his coat pocket, and right when the celebration was almost over, he planned to purpose to her. It was going to be the best Halloween yet! He was just about to get down on one knee...

" _ **BANG! BANG! BANG!"**_

" **JACK!"** The Mayor's voice wailed.

The pumpkin king snapped his eye sockets open. He turned and looked at his Alarm, it was 5:54 in the morning, what could the Mayor possibly be in such a panic about so early in the morning?

The master of fright rubbed his eye sockets, and rolled out of bed. He moved as fast as his tired body could go to get to the door, he didn't want the Mayor waking up Sally or the kids.

Finally he reached the door, wow that walk felt a lot longer then usual.

He swung the door open, "Good morning Mayor," Jack said trying his best to sound cheerful and to cover up how annoyed he really was.

The Mayor's face looked completely devastated,"Oh Jack it's a disaster!"

"What is?" Jack yawned, still half asleep.

"T-the town hall!" The Mayor shrieked, "The boogie boys are ruining everything!"

"Nonsense," The master of fright said confidently, "They're upstairs sound asleep."

"Jack!" Sally called rushing down the stairs in a panic, "I just walked past Lock, Shock, and Barrels rooms! The doors are wide up, and their gone!"

After seeing Sally so shaken up, Jack woke right up, and concern swept over him, when could they have possibly snuck out? Would if they got hurt!

Jack turned to the Mayor, "Where are they?" He asked, with nothing but concern.

"They're at town hall!" The Mayor cried, "Destroying everything!"

Jack turned back to Sally, "Sally, darling get dressed, we're going too town hall!"

The three ex boogie boys had just finished tee-peeing and egging town hall, and were now rummaging threw Jack's office. Important papers were ripped away from the inside of Jack's desk, and now crumpled up on the floor.

Barrel was sitting in Jack office chair, spinning around, happily giggling, while Shock and Lock continued to dig through his desk, trying to dig up any kind of dirt they could on their pumpkin king. The perfectly neat and tidy room was now a complete mess. Drawers from the desk were yanked out and carelessly thrown on the floor, along with any objects the ex boogie boys seen no interest in.

Out of pure spite, Lock purposely knocked over the three chairs Jack had made them sit in countless times before. Shock had found a paper with some special details for this year's Halloween, she read them first of course, and then ripped it to shreds. She had gotten a lot faster at ripping things up, after having torn up every single paper in the Mayor's office earlier.

Lock pulled out another drawer, dumped everything out, tossed the drawer aside, and dug threw the pile of stuff. He found yet another pen, tossed it aside, and somehow it managed to land in Barrels lap.

The youngest child took notice of the shiny looking silver pen, continued to spin around, while playing with the fancy looking object.

"Pretty!" He said brightly, stopping the chair for a moment to show his friends. Though Lock and Shock took no interest. Seeing his friends not caring about the pen he had just acquired, Barrel decided he didn't care about it either, and tossed it aside. When the beautiful pen hit the carpeted floor, it splattered and became a puddle of blue ink. "Oops," Barrel said shyly.

Lock looked up from digging threw Jack's things, "Hey don't worry about it buddy, who cares?"

"Yeah it's just Jack's office, have you forgotten that we hate him?" Shock said, looking up from the file folder she was now going through.

"I guess," Barrel sighed.

For some reason though, the youngest trick or treater couldn't help, but feel a little guilty. He didn't care about what he did too the Mayor's office or town hall because well he always hated the Mayor, and hated the town for agreeing to kick them out of their tree house for a month. Sure he should have hated Jack too, but for some reason he didn't. He tried to remind himself that Jack was only trying to treat him like a pet, like his friends had told him earlier, but then again Jack also saved him from almost falling off the roof a couple of days ago. Barrel wasn't saying he overly liked Jack, because he didn't, but he also didn't hate him, and for some reason the youngest ex boogie boy wanted Jack to kind of like him. Though after Jack sees the huge mess they have made, Barrel doubted that was even possible.

"Come on Barrel, have a little fun, you haven't touched a single thing in here other than that pen and that chair," Lock said, now crumpling up yet another important paper to do with the town, and tossing it at Barrel in an attempt to cheer him up.

"I believe that would be the smartest choice to make," A stern familiar voice said in the doorway.

The three ex boogie boys froze in their spot upon seeing Jack. They scanned his face, he was mad of course, but luckily not as angry as he was the time they almost put garlic powder on the vampires.

The pumpkin king closed the door behind him, stepped over whatever was thrown on the floor, picked up the three chairs, "Sit," He ordered.

Seeing how angry he looked, the trio thought it was best not to push it, and listened to his clear intrusions, and scuffled to their usual seats.

Jack sat down at his office chair, firstly and most importantly, with his eye sockets he scanned over each child to make sure no one was hurt. To his relief they all looked okay, Secondly he looked around at his destroyed office, papers, pens covering the floor, and furniture that was knocked over. It was bad, but nothing compared to what they did to the Mayors office.

"Whatever went through your heads to do such a terrible thing?" Jack said, with the picture of how town hall looked from the outside still burned inside his skull. He really couldn't wrap his head around they're reasoning to do such horrible things.

No one had answered Jack's question, so the master of fright continued, "I'm very disappointed in the three of you," The pumpkin king sighed. It was the truth. Yesterday they were so good, him and Sally had done everything to try to make them happy and comfortable, and this is the thanks they get, for everything they had tried to do? He was very angry with the three of them, but mostly hurt. All he wanted to be was their friend after all.

"You're cleaning all of this up," Jack finally decided after a pause of silence, "Your cleaning up every single mess you have made today, and you are too apologies too the Mayor."

Lock snorted at such a ridiculous idea, "No we're not."

Jack put his elbows on his desk, and folded his hands together, "Alright then," He said calmly, "I'll give you three a choice, either clean up every single mess you have made today, and apologies, or have your tree house ban extended to how about three months instead of one?"

The three ex boogie boys mouths all dropped open and their faces became covered with concern at such a threat. He wouldn't, would he?

"You can't do that!" Shock cried.

"I'm giving you the choice." Jack said simply.

"That isn't fair," Lock protested.

"No, what isn't fair is to purposely do harm too others and not expect punishment for it." The pumpkin king said simply, There was another pause, so Jack continued, "So what will it be? Are you going to clean up?"

The trios heads were hanging so low looking at the floor, Jack just barely noticed the tiny nods they gave him.

Cleaning up had taken forever, it was almost impossible for a whole town to clean this all up, let alone three young kids. Jack sincerely felt bad for making them do all this work by themselves, but he reminded himself if they could make the mess, then they could be the ones to clean it up. Though cleaning up everything still wouldn't undo the fact they destroyed almost all the towns documents that were extremely important. This crime they committed was a terrible deed, but the pumpkin king can honestly say it was not they're worst. Taking Sandy Claus to the Boogie man was one of their worst. Though never the less they still did something that was wrong, and they deserved to be punished for it.

They started with cleaning up the outside of town Hall. Lock was shriving from the chilly morning air. Sally had noticed, and offered him her coat, which he spitefully swatted away and grumbled, _"I don't want anything from you!"_

Shock watched Lock working away freezing cold. That made cleaning up for her a little more enjoyable since she warned him earlier that he should have brought a jacket. Maybe next time he will be smarter and actually listen to her.

Around lunchtime Sally had handed them some sandwiches. Lock and Shock ate no problem, but Barrel only nibbled on it a bit. Still fighting with the guilt he had that was bubbling up inside. For some reason his heart completely sunk after Jack said he was disappointed in them. Jack hated him, and Sally probably did too. And the worst part about it, Barrel didn't have a single clue how he was going to make it up to the two of them.

The trio got done cleaning up everything, other than the ink spill. Barrel scrubbed for about forty five minutes trying to get it out of the carpet, but it was too late, it was already stained.

They got home around 5:30, Sally had supper ready for them, and straight after supper Jack sent them all to bed, without dessert. Warning each of them that he would still add another two months onto the ban of their tree house if they even attempted to leave their rooms without Jack or Sally's permission first.

 **I hope you guys enjoyed my newest chapter. Chapter 9 will be on its way! Also I would like to thank people that reviewed saying they wanted the boogie boys to get in some trouble, with chapter was inspired by you guys! And thanks to your inspiration it helps me a lot with my next chapter, which I planned to do as my original chapter 8, I'm so glad to have this chapter! Actually I almost deleted part of this chapter by mistake lol. Anyways tell me what you think! I promise to update soon, please stay patient with me, chapters are getting longer which is great, but that might mean longer waits for updates, which sucks. But I promise to update asap!**


	10. Chapter 9 part one

**Happy Saturday everyone! I just wanted to say thank you for all the wonderful reviews! Also for everyone who has given me suggestions for ideas in my chapters, please understand I have read them and I do plan to add 99% of the suggestions I was given in my story, I just haven't gotten to that point yet. I am listening to you I promise! Anyways I hope everyone enjoys my newest chapter!**

 **I don't own anything to do with nightmare before Christmas.**

 _ **Chapter 9 part one**_

That night was a sleepless night for all three of the ex boogie boys, and for three completely different reasons. Shock had woken up once again from another nightmare about lightning and was too afraid to fall back asleep, Barrel was still struck with guilt for his poorly chosen actions, and Lock started out sitting awake all night with his arms crossed, furious with everything Jack had made him and his friends do, and for being sent to bed. No one had any right to tell Lock what to do, and he refused to put up with it, he was the boss, not Jack. It was okay though, the devil boy would get his revenge tomorrow.

Locks spiteful attitude had eased hours later from tiredness. It really was a long exhausting day. He pulled the covers up, curled in a ball ready to fall asleep, and just dream of how he was going to get back at his wicked pumpkin king tomorrow, but his thought's got interrupted by some small coughs. The young devil boy thought _, 'must be the dry air in here,'_ He rolled over to try to get comfortable, but once he did so he felt the urge to sneeze. Lock sneezed exactly four times, he sniffled, and rolled back over to where he was before, which caused him to cough again, this time the coughs became stronger. He sniffled again, and right away felt an achy pain in his stomach. His stomach now paining, he thought it would be best to roll on his back to ease the pain, but when he did so he regretted it. The young devil boy became a coughing, sneezing, sniffling, belly paining mess. He felt his head begin to pound. Oh no this can't be happening, Lock thought to himself, I'm not getting sick, am I? ...

That morning, Sally was happily humming to herself in the kitchen, preparing bacon and eggs for breakfast, while Jack was setting the table.

"I invited the Mayor to come over this morning," He told Sally, "So Lock, Shock, and Barrel can apologies for what had happened yesterday."

"Do you think the Mayor will accept their apology?" The rag doll asked, turning to her beloved Jack.

"I really hope so." The master of fright said simply, "I've never been a fan on holding a grudge against anyone, especially against children."

Sally still looked at Jack, "Do you think they learned their lesson?"

The pumpkin king just shrugged, "I hope so," He said sincerely, but it was impossible to tell with those three, one minute they would listen and were as good as gold, and the next they were three little monsters, "When I was a child, I never enjoyed being sent to bed without dessert, so I don't practically enjoy doing it to somebody else."

Sally continued cooking the bacon, "I know that Jack," She said softly, "However you didn't do it to be purposely mean, they could have gotten hurt sneaking out by themselves like that, or hurt somebody else. It is all about safety for them, and the people around them. You acted out of love not hate, so don't feel as though you had done anything wrong."

Jack smiled, feeling a little bit better, "Thank you Sally, you always have the right words to say," The pumpkin king said sincerely.

"Why thank you," The rag doll said, turning back to Jack, "And you are very welcome."

The master of fright gazed at his wonderful girlfriend, and setting down the last plate before deciding to walk over to her, and give her a kiss.

He gracefully walked over to her, spinning her around from her cooking, ready to give her a quick loving kiss on the lips. This time he had no kids to interrupt. Something the master of fright had wanted to do for days now, and their lips were just about to touch...

" **Ring! Ring! Ring!"**

" _ **Jack! You, home?"**_ A cheerful Mayor's voice called.

The master of fright sighed, "I had better get the door I guess, before he starts really yelling."

Sally gave him a shy grin, watching Jack exist the room. Returning to cooking breakfast.

Jack had greeted the Mayor into the kitchen, and called from upstairs for the trio to come down.

Shock was the first to come out into the hallway, and waited for her friends to join her to the walk of shame downstairs. Barrel came second, toddling out of his room and hurrying over to his eldest friend.

"This is going to be so humiliating," Shock grumbled.

"Yeah I kn-," Barrel paused, right when he noticed Lock coming out of his room.

"What was that-," Shock paused, also seeing her best friend come trudging out of his room.

Locks face was as pale as zero's, he had big bags under his eyes, and was slowly dragging his feet to join his friends, while holding his stomach with one hand, and covering his mouth with the other, while coughing.

"Y-you look terrible," Barrel commented. Never in his lifetime has he ever seen Lock look this bad.

"I feel terrible," Lock sniffed with an obvious stuffed up nose. Right after he spoke he broke into a vicious cough.

Shock tried her best not to smile. She knew he'd get sick, and just like she promised yesterday, she didn't care. He was warned, but refused to listen. She was just about to say, I told you so, but got cut off by Jack calling them for a second time to come downstairs.

"Let's get this over with," Barrel sighed, turning to the stairs. Shock slowly followed, and Lock even more slowly, followed her.

The trio piled in the kitchen, all six eyes looking every which way other then Jack or the Mayors direction. This was the worst part of the punishment, it was humiliating to start with, and they weren't particularly sorry for what they had done to the Mayor. Not even Barrel, he had it coming to him, calling them brats countless times in the past, and did he ever say sorry to them? Nope!

Lock and Shock were both furious with Jack over this part of the punishment, they never saw their pumpkin king stand up for any of them. He'd never make the mayor apologies to them, and the master of fright would certainty never ban the Mayor from, town hall for his actions. This wasn't fair at all! The two oldest ex boogie boys seen it no other way, Jack hated them and was purposely trying to ruin their lives.

Barrel hated the idea of even saying he was sorry when he wasn't, but he wasn't angry with Jack over it, he was angry that the Mayor actually expected them to say they were sorry, but he would still apologize for two very important reasons, one being to hopefully get on Jack and Sally's good side, and for two so him and his friends could return to their tree house, where they were allowed to have dessert whenever they wanted and didn't get sent to bed. For all the ex boogie boys the second reason was the one they all agreed on.

They stood in front of the town Mayor, it was almost impossible to look at him. There was a long pause before Jack spoke.

"Go on, you three know exactly what to say," He said softly, gesturing to the Mayor.

Barrel swallowed, trying his best to sound sincere, "We are.." He stopped, he couldn't stomach another word after getting a glimpse of the Mayors face.

There was another pause, so Shock decided she should continue, "Really.." Her stomach twisted on the inside, unable to keep going, it was too much that final word was impossible to even stomach.

Lock, who had something completely different on his mind had no problem attempting to spit out the last horrid word.

"Sor-", Apparently it really was to challenging of a word to stomach because once the young devil boy tried to finish his word, his body kicked his stomach from the insides, and Lock not with any intentions to do so, vomited right on the Mayors shoes.

It took everything Shock and Barrel had not to burst out laughing. It really wasn't funny, Lock really was very sick. It was that he puked right on the Mayor at what they could all agree was the perfect timing that made it so humorous.

Jack and Sally froze for a moment, trying to comprehend what had just happened. They really only clued in once the Mayor gave out a huge screech.

"Ah! Disgusting!" The mayor cried in utter disgust.

Sally had ignored the mayor, and rushed over to Lock, and gently, but quickly placing a soft hand on the child's forehead, which was something Lock would never allow anyone to do any other time, but he was just too sick to even care at this moment.

"He's burning up," Sally said softly, with a voice filled with concern.

Jack hurried over to Lock, also ignoring the Mayor who was still on a rampage about what had just happened.

"I'll take him back up to bed," The master of fright said, giving Lock a sympathetic look.

He was just about to scoop the child up, but the young devil felt the same urge to vomit once again, but this time tried to at least get to the trash can, but after taking one step he threw up again, this time on the floor.

Shock and Barrel slowly backed away from him, they didn't want to be the next ones having to scrub puke off themselves.

Lock had resorted to sitting on the floor, his brain was pounding against his skull. Everything around him was spinning and he felt burning hot. He didn't care how he looked or what anyone was to do to him at this very moment, all he wanted was to feel normal, but right now that feeling had felt impossible.

He felt the urge to hurl once more, but he was unable to move from the pain his stomach was causing him. Sally noticed and quickly got her mop bucket, and placed it in-front of the sick child.

She knelled on the floor with him, wrapping an arm around him to try to comfort him best she could. The worst possible thing to see for her was a sick child.

Shock and Barrel watched while their friend continued to puke what they thought was his guts out, with Sally at his side trying to help best she could. Jack was now tending too the Mayor giving him paper towel to wipe off the mess on his shoes.

"Wicked little brats," The Mayor murmured under his breath, shooting a glare in Shock and Barrels direction.

"I am terribly sorry for this Mayor really," Jack said softly, now wiping up the vomit on the floor, "This was just a terrible accident."

"Well," The Mayor said, wiping off his shoes for a final time, "I believe I have had quite enough of their little accidents for this week. Good day Jack, Sally." The two faced man scowled at Shock and Barrel again, and stormed out of the kitchen. He was muttering to himself out in the entry way before finally slamming the front door behind him.

Lock puked for a couple more minutes, until he was finally done for a short while. Without any protect from the sick child, Jack carried him back up to bed, while Sally quickly cleaned out the bucket, and hurried upstairs.

Shock and Barrel awkwardly stood in the middle of the kitchen. Barrel still a little confused on what had just happened turned to his friend.

"So was that our apology?"

Shock glanced over to the kitchens entry way the Mayor stormed out a couple minutes ago, "I guess," She said puzzled as well, "He basically said he didn't want to see us again this week."

Meanwhile upstairs, Jack carried the devil boy back into his bedroom, treating Lock like he was about to break if Jack wasn't careful enough when he lowered him back into bed. After he genitally placed him on the bed, he ever so carefully pulled the covers up, tucking him in.

Sally hurried into the room shortly after with the bucket, and lightly put it beside the bed.

Lock looked up at the ceiling mindlessly. After the third time he puked he decided he hated his life, and it wasn't worth living anymore, Life wasn't at all fair, he couldn't even wish to be dead because he was already dead, and how does one even get sick in their afterlife anyway? Life was completely stupid!

"The doctor should have something to help his stomach," Sally said to Jack.

"I can stay here with him, if you'd like to go get it Sally," Jack responded.

"If you don't mind Jack, I'd much rather stay here and take care of Lock, if that would be okay." Sally said shyly. It wasn't that she really minded to go, it wasn't a problem, just something in her heart had urged her to stay.

"I don't mind at all," The pumpkin king said brightly. He was actually relieved she offered because Jack didn't have the slightness idea how to tend to a sick child.

It was quiet for a moment, until Lock decided to break the silence, puking once again.

"You should go downstairs Jack," Sally said shooing the pumpkin king to the door, "Check on the other two."

The master of fright turned and looked at Lock, who was holding the bucket now, vomiting again. He gave him a sympathetic look before turning to go downstairs.

When the pumpkin king stepped back into the kitchen Shock and Barrel were sitting at the table.

"Is Lock okay?" Barrel asked, right when he noticed Jack.

Jack took a seat beside Shock, "He's pretty sick, but he will be fine."

"Would if he pukes all his guts out?" Shock giggled.

"That would be so cool!" Barrel snickered.

"I don't think that will happen," The master of fright chuckled.

It was quite for a moment, until Shock scrunched up her nose and spoke up, turning to Jack, "You know it's your fault Lock got sick."

The master of fright gave her a puzzled look, "How is it my fault?"

Barrel shot a look in Shocks direction, he knew where she was going with this, and he didn't like it one bit.

"You're the one that made us clean up in the freezing cold yesterday," Shock said spitefully.

Jack just snorted at such a ridiculous statement, "If you three didn't make such a terrible mess yesterday then none of you would have been outside, but what's done is done, and I think it's best we all just learn from what happened and move on," He said softly, in all honestly Jack had still felt guilty over punishing them, and it didn't help when one of them went out of their way to make him feel worse. He knew the three of them hated him, but he just wished they would understand he wanted to be their friend more than anything else, and when they did do bad things and were punished it wasn't because Jack hated them, but to hopefully put them on the right track and prove the town wrong about them being brats, which Jack strongly believed they were no such thing.

Shock wasn't that easy to sway away from a fight though, "The Mayor was mean to us, he had it coming," She snarled, "Isn't it what goes around comes around?"

"Why yes it is," The master of fright said simply, "That's why you shouldn't go out of your way to do terrible things because eventually karma will come back and bite them."

Shock had her mouth opened to say something back, but Barrel cut her off, to avoid any of them getting in trouble again.

"I'm hungry," The little boy whined, trying to change the subject.

Jack jumped right up, relieved to have the heated topic changed, "Sally was cooking breakfast, I'll just heat it up."

Shock was going to keep arguing with Jack, but the growl of her stomach told her she could save the fighting until later today.

After breakfast was done, Jack told Barrel and Shock they could go in the living room and watch TV if they would like, and he'd do the dishes.

They stepped into the living room, Shock jumped on the couch and curled up in a ball hoping to regain the hours of sleep she lost last night from nightmares, so Barrel snatched the remote first.

"What do you want to watch?" The youngest ex boogie boy asked, only to turn around and see Shock had already fallen asleep ... Who falls asleep that fast?

Barrel was about to turn the television on, but then turned to Shock hesitantly, if he woke her up she would kill him. Whenever anyone ever woke Shock up it wasn't fun or pretty. The youngest trick or treater set the remote back down, and turned to the kitchen where he heard Jack starting on the dishes. As much as Barrel didn't want to, he supposed now would be a good time to try to return on Jacks good side (if he was ever on his good side) when Lock and Shock wouldn't see him. If they saw him trying to be nice to the pumpkin king Barrel would never live it down.

He took a deep sigh, carefully placed the remote back on the coffee table, and toddled back into the kitchen.

Jack stood by the sink, happily humming to himself. He turned around when he heard a small creaking noise behind him. To much of his surprise Barrel was shyly standing in the entry way of the kitchen.

"Barrel, is something wrong?" Jack asked with a little concern.

The youngest ex boogie boy just stared at the floor, kicking one foot gently, "I was just wondering if you might have needed some..." Barrel swallowed hard, he never asked anything like this before, "Help," He finally managed to squeak.

The master of fright couldn't help, but smile, it gave him a spark of happiness to think Barrel would even go out of his way to ask, "That's very nice of you to ask Barrel," Jack said, "Really though, I'm fine, you can go sit with Shock in the living room, I don't mind at all."

"Yeah, but Shock fell asleep, I don't want to wake her." Barrel explained.

"Didn't she just wake up?" Jack asked, what child needed to sleep that much?

The youngest ex boogie boy just shrugged, "I don't know, just don't wake her up, she gets really cranky, kind of scary."

Jack couldn't help, but chuckle a bit at that last comment, before continuing, "Well how about you go upstairs and get ready to come too town with me."

"Okay," The little boy said dryly, he really didn't want to go, he'd rather stay at Skellington manor because at least there wasn't a whole town full of people that hated him, just Jack and probably Sally, but if Jack wanted him to go too town or do anything, and Lock and Shock weren't around to argue, Barrel thought he should grab at the opportunity when he could.

Barrel hurried upstairs to get ready, ready for him though was just changing into his every day clothes, a quick comb through his hair, and putting his mask on. He was just about to head downstairs, when he noticed Locks bedroom door was slightly open. The youngest ex boogie boy tip-toed over to the door and peaked inside, to find just Lock curled up in bed mindlessly looking up at the ceiling.

"How are you feeling?" Barrel asked, slowly opening the door.

Lock, darted his eyes at his friend, "How do I look," The devil boy snarled back.

"Terrible," Barrel said, ignoring his friends snappy sarcasm, slowly entering, "I think Jack is going to get you some medication to help."

"I heard them talking about that," Lock hissed, crossing his arms, "I'm not taking anything from them! I'll get better without their help, I bet, _cough, cough cough_ I'll be feeling better in a-a-" Lock reached for the bucket, and vomited once again.

"Have you puked up again guts yet?" Barrel asked.

"Shut up you moron," Lock said with his head in the bucket still, just before puking again.

Barrel scrunched his face up at such a gross sight. If this is what would happen when you didn't wear your jacket, Barrel would never forget his coat ever again.

Sally hurried back into the room with a glass of water and some mints, she set them down on his nightstand, and took a seat beside Lock, he was still puking, so Sally held the bucket for him with one hand, and with the other patted his back, trying to be comforting.

Lock hated every moment of it, he didn't want her trying to do anything for him, he could take care of himself! Though every time he was about to argue that he didn't need anyone's help him, he puked again. Really the only thing he had the power to do at this moment was every time he stopped vomiting for at least a second, was flinch away from Sally when she started rubbing his back, but after he did that he just got sick all over again.

"Is he going to be okay Sally?" Barrel asked innocently, apparently forgetting that Jack had already said Lock would be fine earlier.

"Of course he will be okay," Sally warmly said, still tending to Lock, "Just the flu that's all."

"Or the plague," Lock said with his head still in the bucket, before throwing up again.

"How's he feeling?" Jack said, entering the room.

"How does it look?" Lock muffled, sarcastically.

Sally gave Lock a light smile, "He's still pretty bad." She said softly.

"Well I just came to tell you I'm going into town, to get some medicine, and a couple of other things he might need. Barrel's coming with me, and Shock fell asleep on the couch."

Sally's face became concerned, "Is Shock feeling alright?"

"She seemed fine at breakfast, just tired I guess," The pumpkin king said simply.

"Don't wake her!" Barrel cut in.

Jack turned to the small child and just chuckled, before turning back to Sally, "We'll be back soon my dear," He then turned to Lock, "And I hope you feel better," The master of fright said softly.

"Shut up," Lock muttered face still in the bucket.

Jack gave the boy a small grin, before turning to Barrel, "Alright, well let's go Barrel."

The youngest ex boogie boy obediently followed. Finally, his chance to get on Jack's good side..

 **I hope you guys enjoyed my newest chapter, I'll update asap. Tell me your thoughts, I'd love to hear them!**


	11. Chapter 9 part two

**Finally complete my longest chapter yet! Wow this took forever, I bet you guys thought I forgot about you! But I didn't! :) I wanted to post this sooner, but life kind of got in the way, sorry guys! It is 12:56am in the morning where I live, so Happy Saturday everyone! I hope you enjoy my newest chapter! And thank you for all the wonderful reviews! I love all my readers!**

 **I don't owe anything do do with Nightmare before Christmas.**

 _ **Chapter 9 part two**_

Barrel toddled behind Jack. Trying his best to keep up with the tall skeleton man, at some points Barrel was almost running trying to keep up with the pumpkin kings long steps.

Jack had noticed Barrel struggling to keep up, so he slowed down a bit. Zero had also decided to come into town with them, the loyal pet he was right at Jack's side, but every so often the ghost like dog would turn too Barrel, sharply keeping an eye on the child.

The youngest trick or treater took notice of Zero's warning glance. Hurt that the dog clearly didn't trust the little boy, Barrel stuck his tongue out at the dog to prove he wasn't scared of a little ghost. Barrel's action didn't set to well with Zero, the small dog got right in Barrels face growling and showing off all of his teeth.

"Hey," Jack said softly, turning around, "It's impolite to growl at people, Zero cut it out."

Zero gave Barrel one last warning glare before turning back to his beloved master. If only the dog could talk, he'd tell Jack how rude it was to stick your tongue out at someone else, but the dog was also a little out of sorts to be perfectly honest. The little ghost like dog had spent the last couple days hiding in Jack's room, away from the three little terrors that invaded his home. Zero slept at the graveyard sometimes, so why couldn't Jack just send Lock, Shock, and Barrel there instead?

"Where are we going first Jack?" Barrel panted, still struggling to keep up with the pumpkin kings fast pace.

The master of fright stopped walking, and waited for the child to catch up, once he did catch up, Jack started to walk again, trying his best to stay at the same paste as Barrels tiny steps.

"First to see the doctor," Jack said.

"I don't think the doctor likes me that much," Barrel said shyly with a little concern.

The master of fright thought for a moment, the last time he saw the doctor was when they had that town meeting about the ex boogie boys, and he was in a neck brace because of Lock, Shock, and Barrel, "Because of the wheelchair thing? Oh that was forever ago, I'm sure he's over it." Jack lied, remembering how angry the doctor still was over the incident at the meeting. Sure lying was wrong, but he didn't want to make the child feel bad over something that was in the past, and something he knew Lock and Shock most likely planned and Barrel simply just went along with. Jack didn't know much about the ex boogie boys, but he was almost positive any little pranks they pulled were never Barrel's ideas, he just followed the two.

"Is he still in a neck brace?" Barrel asked innocently

"Yes, I believe so," Jack almost whispered.

"Oh," Barrel said with no emotion in his voice.

 _Meanwhile..._

Lock just finished puking once again. Sally carefully took the bucket from him, genitally setting it beside the bed. The rag doll patted his back softly trying to be comforting.

Lock rejected her lovely manner, and flinched away from her again, so Sally took notice and quickly stopped.

"Don't touch _,cough cough cough_ me," The devil snarled in a weak voice.

"Sorry," Say said softly, and also sincerely, moving her hand away, "I'm just trying to help."

"Well I don't need your help," Lock growled. Right after he spoke his inside's kicked him once again and he was ready to hurl.

Quickly Sally placed the bucket in front of him, she watched the sick child throw up once again, she raised an eye brown thinking to herself, still don't need my help huh?

Once he was done Sally placed the bucket backdown, "Can I take your temperature?" She asked, not wanting to upset him again.

"No," Lock hissed, shaking his head, and crossing his arms.

"Lock," Sally said in the sweetest voice she had, "I know you don't want my help-"

"I don't need your help," Lock corrected cutting the rag doll off.

Sally sighed, "I just want you to feel better, that's-"

"Blame your, _cough cough cough,_ stupid, _cough,_ boyfriend, he's the one that, _cough cough cough_ made me work outside _, cough cough,_ yesterday."

"Well," Sally said trying to think of what to say to get the child to listen to reason, "I'll blame whoever you'd like me to, so it's Jack whose at fault for all this is it?"

"Jacks and, _cough cough cough_ , the Mayors fault," Lock grumbled.

"Okay," Sally said calmly, "Why is the Mayor at fault, if you don't mind me asking."

Lock sat up a little straighter in bed, actually a little happy somebody was finally listening to his side, "The Mayor has called me, Shock, and Barrel brats a billion times, and does _Jack_ say or do anything about it, no! _Cough cough cough_ , but when we decided to give the Mayor a taste of what he's been dishing out, we all get punished for it." Lock scowled, "What does it matter, you're going to take Jacks side any way's, like everyone else does."

Sally couldn't help,but give him a sympathetic look. It was obvious his feelings were actually hurt. The rag doll supposed since the ex boogie boys were almost always acting up no one ever really took the time to see their side of the story, and it wasn't fair to just overlook their feelings when they did something wrong, they had the right to be listened to and explain themselves. They probably never talked to Jack about this because they just assumed he didn't like them, which wasn't true at all.

"No, no I see your point and I understand," Sally said sincerely.

Lock eyes lite up a little bit, but he was still a little skeletal, "You're just saying that."

Sally shook her head, "No I'm not, your voice and feelings are important to me."

"Really?" Lock raised an eyebrow, not convinced.

"Really," Sally nodded, giving him a small grin.

"Oh how nice," Lock sneered, "Now get out of my room and leave me alone," He said bitterly.

Sally's face fell completely confused, and a little hurt. So Lock explained, "You said my voice and feelings are important, so I'm telling you with all my voice and feelings to-to-" He got ready to vomit again, so quickly, Sally placed the bucket under his chin.

Sally looked at the child weakly, his stubbornness was going to make for a long day...

 _Meanwhile..._

Jack, Barrel and Zero just arrived to doctor Finkelstein manor. Barrel chased after Jack and Zero up the steps. Once Jack got to the door he waited for Barrel to catch up.

"Would you like to ring the doorbell?" Jack happily asked.

Barrels face lite up, Lock and Shock would never let him do that. He nodded excitedly.

The master of fright couldn't help, but smile at the fact something so simple as ringing the doorbell brought a child so much joy. He lifted Barrel up so he was able to reach.

Quickly, like someone was ready to pull it before he could, Barrel snatched the rope to the doorbell and pulled. He yanked on it three times before hearing doctor Finkestein call from the inside,

"The door is open!"

The pumpkin king set Barrel back on the ground before opening the door.

"Doctor!" Jack yelled happily when entering the home.

Barrel tried his best to hide behind the skeleton man, which failed miserably, why did Jack have to be so skinny any ways?

"Jack Skellington!" The doctor announced happily, from upstairs, "What do I owe the pleasure?"

The pumpkin king began to walk upstairs with zero still at his side, Barrel jogged behind them.

"I need a favour," Jack said, now upstairs, Barrel only a couple steps away.

"Of course!" The doctor said brightly, "Anything at all my boy," The doctors gaze turned to the much small skeleton boy, attempting to shyly hide behind the master of fright, "And who do we have here?"

Jack looked down at Barrel, with one hand gently pushing the boy in front of the doctor, "You know Barrel," The pumpkin king said brightly, inside praying the doctor wasn't still angry.

"Why yes I do, he's one of the three little monsters that put me in this hideous neck braces," The doctor griped, still narrowing in on the youngest trick or treat. Yep he was still mad.

Barrel scuffled his feet, struggling to look up at the doctor, "I thought the neck brace made you look younger," He muffled shyly. Barrel cursed himself for saying something so stupid, what a dumb thing to say! He thought to himself.

The doctors sniff angry face had actually turned into a little bit of a smile, he even laughed a little bit, "Do you really think so?" He said, totally flattered, "I actually made this new potion that I started using when I got this brace, it's supposed to take years off my face, maybe that's what you noticed," Barrel just nodded, so the doctor went on, "Well this is wonderful news, I didn't think it was working at first, but if you notice, then it must be working." He looked up at Jack, "What do you think Jack?"

"I think you look fanatic!" The pumpkin king said cheerfully, "Definitely see a difference!" Jack might have seen a little difference, now that he looked.

Zero even barked excitedly, wagging his tail.

"Well then," The doctor said brightly, "What kind of favour can I do for you gentlemen today?"

Jack explained the situation, and within minutes the doctor gave Jack exactly what would be needed to help Locks paining stomach. The pumpkin king thanked the doctor, and the doctor was even nice enough to give Barrel a lollipop, Jack never saw the doctor in such a good mood.

"You make sure Jack, to tell Sally to stop by soon!" The doctor called, while Jack, Zero, and Barrel were walking down the driveway.

"Well do! And please come visit us any time, it would be a pleasure to have you," The pumpkin king happily called back, "Thanks again!"

The doctor waved once more before closing the door.

"He's really nice," Barrel said, happily licking away at his colourful lollipop.

Jack smiled down at the child, "Does this mean no more toying with the parts in his wheelchair?"

Barrel shyly nodded.

"Good," Jack said brightly. Only time could tell if Barrel would keep to his word.

Meanwhile at home Sally was trying to reason with Lock, to allow her to help him, but he didn't budge.

"Get out of my room!" The sick child demanded.

"I'll leave just as soon as you promise me you won't get out of bed again," Sally said softly. Earlier she had left him in his room by himself for five minutes just to clean the bucket, and when she returned, he was standing at the top of the staircase puking.

"You're not the boss of me lady!" Lock snarled, in a weak voice.

After the staircase incident, it took everything Sally had to place Lock back into bed, he protested that he didn't need anyone's help, and he was going to go to town hall and demand the tree house back, so he could take care of himself there. The rag doll feared if she left him alone again he'd try to get out of bed again, and he needed to rest, or his flu was only going to get worse.

"Lock," Sally said as genitally as she could, "You need your rest, it'll only get worse if you don't take it easy."

"Go away!" Lock barked, throwing a pillow at Sally.

Luckily the unsteady rag doll manged to catch the pillow. She carefully placed it on the ground, and looked at Lock, "Please just relax, you don't want to throw up again, do you?" Her voice was as sweet as ever, but it still wasn't enough to breakthrough Locks stubbornness.

"I said go away!" He growled, now throwing his second pillow at her.

Sally managed to dodge it, almost tripping over herself when she jumped out of the way, "Lock," She said, trying to steady herself, "Please, just calm down, you will upset your stomach again."

Having nothing else to throw, Lock just sat there giving Sally the worst look he could come up with. He hated her, didn't she get it?

The look was so terrible that Sally had a difficult time making eye contact with the boy, if looks could kill, Sally would have been dead by now.

What was she supposed to do, he refused to listen to her, and Sally didn't know how to make him listen. She didn't have the same affect or power Jack had on the ex boogie boys.

Finally she decided it was best to just give in to what he wanted, and just leave the room, if he tried to escape he wouldn't get to far any ways, and standing her screaming at her was only going to upset his stomach more. If there was a small chance he would actually stay in bed, Sally thought that would be her best bet.

"Okay," She said calm as ever, "I'll be downstairs, if you need anything at all, please just hollower and I will be right up, just please get some rest."

"Just please get some rest," Lock mocked, trying to sound like Sally.

The rag doll just sighed, before closing the door behind her. Hopefully he would listen to her, but she doubted it.

Sally went downstairs, and heard an odd sound from the kitchen, almost like pots and pans being bagged against the floor. The rag doll wobbled into the kitchen, to find out what on earth was going on.

When she looked, she almost wished she hadn't. She was horrified at what she saw, pots, pans, and everything else from the lower kitchen cupboards all ripped away from their places and scattered all over the floor!

Shock was ripping throw a cupboard, tossing Sally's baking dishes aside carelessly.

"Shock," Sally wailed, "What happened?"

The witch turned to the rag doll, "I got hungry." She said simply.

Sally was mortified, why didn't the child just come up stairs and tell her she was hungry? Sally would have gotten her a snack, "All you had to do was ask," The rag doll gasped, "Look at this terrible mess."

Shock just shrugged, "Not my fault I was hungry."

Sally sighed, "Well next time please just ask, and you can have whatever you'd like." The rag doll looked around again at the terrible mess, "Would you mind helping me put everything back?"

Shock just stuck her tongue at Sally and made a face, before racing out of the kitchen.

Sally just stood in the middle of the kitchen with her head in her hands, she wanted to just cry, how was she going to clean up this big mess, keep an eye on Shock, while taking care of Lock? If Jack were here, maybe he could have gotten Shock to clean everything back up, but Jack wasn't here, and Sally knew there was no possible way of getting Shock to actually listen to her, but Sally couldn't just leave her kitchen like this. What was she going to do?

" **SALLY!"** Shock screamed from what sounded like upstairs, **"Lock needs you!"**

Sally managed to rip her eyes away from the clutter, and rushed upstairs as fast as her unsteady body would allow her to go.

She opened the door, and rushed in the room, just to find Shock jumping on the bed, and Lock struggling to sit up right.

Sally was about to ask Shock to stop, when Lock threw a pillow at the rag doll, which knocked her unbalanced body over.

While the rag doll was struggling to get steady once again, Lock and Shock stopped what they were doing, and roared with laughter at poor Sally.

Unfortunately it was just too funny, and Lock felt the same feeling he felt many times this morning. He was going to be sick to his stomach once again, and with a speed Sally didn't even know she had in her, was able to be at his bedside soon enough with the bucket placed under his chin. She was about to pat his back again, but stopped herself, remembering he hated that.

Once he was finished puking, Shock started jumping on the bed again.

"Shock, could you maybe jump somewhere else, I think your upsetting Locks stomach by doing that." Sally said, kind as ever.

"Not until you give us what we want," Shock said, still jumping on the bed.

"What would you two like?" Sally asked sweetly.

"Sodas!" Lock announced excitedly, right after he spoke, he began to cough.

Pop probably wouldn't do to much damage to the sick child's stomach, but Sally also feared if she gave in to what they wanted it would turn into more of, if you give a mouse a cookie kind of game.

"I'll give you pop, if you promise," She turned her gaze to Shock, "Stop jumping on the bed, so Lock can get some rest," She then turned to Lock, "And as long as you promise to rest and try to get some sleep."

"Just bring us our soda's lady!" Lock ordered, throwing another pillow at Sally hitting her, but unfortunately for him, didn't knock her down.

Sally sighed, she had never felt so bullied before in her life, and by children for that matter. She was an adult, but she didn't have the slightness clue how to handle them. Honestly if she could, she just wanted to curl up in a ball and cry, but she couldn't do that because, then Jack would come home, find out and think Sally couldn't look after the two of them, when in fact she really couldn't, but she didn't want Jack to know that. Why couldn't Lock and Shock respect her like how they respect Jack? Though at this point that question was impossible to answer.

The rag doll went downstairs to get the two children their drinks. After pouring to glasses of coke, she gazed down at the clutter she still had to clean up. In the middle of the kitchen floor she noticed one small wooden box, it wasn't what she thought it was, was it?

She hobbled over to pick the small box up, taking a peek inside. It was exactly what she thought it was. Deadly nightshade. Why Sally hadn't used deadly nightshade for months, when she lived with the doctor. Perhaps she could ... She turned and looked at the two glasses of pop. Oh no she couldn't! That would be wrong!

She slammed the little box closed again, about to set it down, until she heard what sounded like a shelf or dresser came crashing to the floor from upstairs.

She flinched at the terrible sound, then looked around at her kitchen, which was still a complete disaster. The rag doll slowly opened the little wooden box again, still shyly looking around the room. Lock did need his rest, and Sally was sure another little nap wouldn't hurt Shock.

Feeling like the worst person in all of Halloween town, Sally slipped the smallest amount of deadly nightshade into the two drinks, and without a second thought gave them to Lock and Shock, and both ex boogie boys drank every single drop...

Jack and Barrel went into town, Barrel had gotten a dirty look from almost everyone that noticed him, not that the youngest ex boogie boy noticed or cared, he was too focused on his lollipop. Jack had noticed though, and he couldn't help, but feel disappointment in the towns people. How could anyone hate a child?

Other than the dirty looks everything was going just fine. Jack just had to get one more thing from the stand the witches had, and then they could go home.

Jack was just making some small talk with a witch, before making his purchase.

Barrel had just finished his lollipop, and quickly became very board. Jack must have stopped and talked to at least ten people so far today, how does anyone have that much to say to so many different people? Barrel was restless, he wanted to be back at the manor already! It has been forever!

Barrel spun around restlessly in a circle to try to entertain himself. Well that was a horrible idea that Barrel soon regretted.

Being clumsy like he was with his deformed feet, the youngest trick or treater tripped over his owe feet, and mistakenly bumped into a table, filled with potions for sale, knocking every single bottle over.

"You little brat!" A witch shirked, "You ruined everything!"

Jack helped Barrel up, ignoring the witch and quickly looking over the child to make sure he was unharmed by the fall.

"First he breaks our arms and legs! Now he's trying to sabotage our business!" The shorter witch screamed.

"It was an accident!" Barrel cried, looking right at Jack.

"It always is!" The taller witch hissed, storming over to the youngest ex boogie boy.

Jack saw the sincerity on the child's face, out of the three ex boogie boys Barrels was always the easiest to read, the master of fright knew he really didn't do this one on purpose.

The pumpkin king stood up straight and turned to the two furious women, "I'll pay for what was lost," He said softly, getting out his wallet.

"Twenty five licks with a cow whip should do it," The smaller which snarled, staring right at Barrel.

Barrels eyes grew three times bigger, and his face was covered in terror from what he just heard. He backed away slowly, they wouldn't really do that to him, would they?

"Here you are" Jack said genitally, trying to clear the air, by giving the witch more than enough money to cover the damages, "I do apologies for all of this. We'll just be on our way now, come along Zero," Jack turned to Barrel, who was now a safe distance away, "Come along Barrel," Jack said, reaching a hand out to the boy.

Barrel slowly and cautious approached the pumpkin king, eyeing the two annoyed women nervously.

Jack grabbed a hold of the child's hand and smiled lightly, guiding Barrel out of the market area, and making sure he didn't break anything else. Barrel didn't protest at all, he felt like to big of an idiot at this point. He went with Jack today in hopes of getting on his good side, and what did he manage to do? Break a lot of stuff, make Jack pay for it, and now Jack probably hates him even more.

Once they finally got out of the market area, the master of fright looked down at the child, "You have to be more careful," He said, freeing Barrels hand from his light grip.

The youngest ex boogie boy looked up at the tall man, "It really was an accident," Barrel explained helplessly.

"I know that," Jack said softly.

"Are you mad?" Barrel asked nervously.

The master of fright shook his head, "No of course not, accidents happen, and all we can do is learn from them and move on, okay?" He had a warm smile on his face, just to prove to Barrel he really wasn't angry with him.

"Okay," Barrel said shyly, giving the pumpkin king a small smile back. Maybe, just maybe Jack didn't hate him as much as he thought.

When Jack, Zero, and Barrel got home, Sally had just finished cleaning everything up, her nerves were finally calmed down, about an hour ago she tucked a sleeping Lock in bed, and she manged to place a sound asleep Shock on the couch. Sally even tucked a pillow under the little girls head, and gave her a blanket. If nobody knew any better they would think Sally had everything under control to begin with.

Barrel swung the door open, happy to finally be back at the house. Town was just so boring!

He rushed in threw the front door, only making it as far as the entry way mat, when he heard Jack call behind him.

"Wipe off your feet, please."

Without any fuss at all, Barrel obeyed the pumpkin kings order's and wiped his feet on the mat before going any further in the house.

"Thank you," Jack said, finally getting in the door, with a brown paper bag filled with stuff, and with Zero at his side.

Zero floated up into the ceiling, retreating back to Jack's bedroom.

The youngest ex boogie boy bolted upstairs as well, just as Sally came stepping out of the kitchen.

"Sally!" Jack said excitedly, he was away from her far too long.

Sally gave Jack a small smile, "Jack," She said in her softly voice, "Where's Barrel?"

The pumpkin king kicked off his shoes, "He just went upstairs," He said brightly, now walking toward the kitchen.

Sally stepped out of his way, and followed him in the kitchen, "How was the doctor?" The rag doll asked.

"He was wonderful!" Jack said, much to Sally's surprise, "He just adored Barrel," The pumpkin king praised.

The rag doll raised an eyebrow, "Really?" She asked, strange, the last time she spoke to her creator he was still furious over the wheelchair incident caused by the ex boogie boys.

"Oh yes, he was quite taken by the boy," The master of fright said proudly, "The doctor also mentioned that he'd like you to stop and visit sometime very soon."

"I'll have to do that," Sally said, now leaning against the kitchen counter.

Jack set the paper bag on the counter beside Sally, "Here is Locks medicine, is he feeling any better?"

Sally took the small purple bottle, "He was throwing up a lot, but he's sleeping now." The rag doll tried not to cringe when she spoke, it was best that Jack didn't know how or why Lock and Shock had fallen asleep.

"Good," Jack said brightly, "The doctor said to give him a tablespoon after supper."

Sally nodded, "Alright," She almost whispered, gazing down at the little bottle, Lock taking medicine? Now that was a scary thought...

Shock had awoken, and Sally just explained to her that after she drank her soda she fell asleep on the couch again, which surprisingly, Shock actually believed.

For the rest of the day Shock and Barrel just sat in the living room watching movies Jack had given them to watch, which to the two ex boogie boys surprise were pretty amusing.

Lock had stayed asleep until before supper, so Sally made him some soup. It was just a thrill for the rag doll when the child didn't argue with her, and actually ate his meal.

After suppertime thought, was when the fun was really going to begin. Getting Lock to take his medicine...

Jack stepped into Locks room, close behind Sally with the small purple bottle in one hand, and her baking tablespoon in the other.

The pumpkin king took a seat on the bed beside the sick child, "Are you feeling any better?" Jack asked softly, placing his bony hand on Locks forehead.

The devil boy slapped Jack's hand away and crossed his arms, "I am doing fine!" Lock snarled, "Now go away."

The master of fright gave the sick child a small smile, "Now, now, we'll get out of your hair after you take your medicine."

Locks eyes flickered over to Sally, watching her carefully pour some purple disgusting goop in a massive spoon.

"No way!" Lock growled, "I'm not taking any of that stuff."

"Just plug your nose, and you won't taste a thing," Sally suggested sweetly, "It'll help your stomach, I promise."

The Lock eyed the purple bubbling goop, "It'll make me throw up more," He grumbled.

"Just trust us," Jack said, trying to calm the boy down.

Lock refused to listen though. He kept his mouth closed shut, and shook his head.

The master of fright sighed, of course it this couldn't be easy, Lock was incapable of making anything simple.

"Sally, may I just speak to you out in the hallway." Jack said, gesturing to the door.

Without question, Sally followed.

Jack lightly closed the door when they got out in the hallway, "Now," He whispered, "When he opens his mouth, as quick as you can, give him the medicine."

"How are you going to get him to open his mouth?" Sally whispered.

"I just will," Jack said confidently, with his hand on the doorknob, "You will see." He winked at his beloved rag doll, before entering Locks room again.

The pumpkin king stopped, in front of Locks bed, Sally stood right beside Jack.

Lock still had his arms crossed, and his mouth closed shut.

Jack gave him a smile, "Lock, can you take your medicine now?"

Lock just shook his head.

"Alright," Jack said, a little to calmly.

It was strangely quiet for a couple seconds.

Jack turned away for a moment, and Lock watched him carefully, what was he up to?

Just then the master of fright turned back around looking right at the child, making the most terrifying face the pumpkin king could make, with a shrill growl to go with it.

Lock was horrified at the sight, and forgetting that he vowed to keep his mouth shut, without even giving it a thought, was about to scream at the scary face in front of him, but before a signal sound came out, the worst taste he had ever tasted in his young life filled his mouth, and without thinking swallowed it whole.

Sally and Jack watched Lock cough and gag at the horrid taste of medicine, Jack lifted his hand from his side up slightly, and Sally gave him a light high-five. The couple had won this round.

 **I hope everyone enjoyed this chapter, please tell me what you thought, I love reading reviews! Also I will try to update sooner, I just knew where I had to finish this chapter, and it took a lot longer then I thought, but I really hope it was worth the wait. Anyways enjoy your weekend everyone!**


	12. Chapter 10

**Happy Valentines everybody! I hope everyone is having a wonderful day! I got two snowdays in a row so I'm having a great day, the joys of living in Canada lol. Anyways enjoy my newest chapter, and thank you for all the fanatic reviews!**

 _ **Chapter 10**_

The last couple days were like pulling teeth. Getting Lock to take his medicine was the real nightmare. Jack and Sally never knew any child could be so impossible. The couple didn't know how, but somehow they managed to survive dealing with a sick Lock for three days. Though Shock also went out of her way to make things even more challenging, then they really needed to be, spending most of her three days in Jack's office asking the pumpkin king extremely annoying questions, 'mistakenly' picking up random breakable objects and dropping them on the floor, making paper airplanes and throwing them at Sally while Sally was trying to cook, and at mealtimes she'd try to argue with Jack or Sally, have extremely rude table manners, and once even when Sally had asked Barrel to bring Locks soup up to him, Shock bumped tray in Barrels hands, and hot soup spilled all over the boy, leaving a mess of soup on the floor, Barrel crying in the middle of the kitchen, Shock laughing at the top of her lungs, and Lock screaming from upstairs that he was hungry.

Jack always thought of himself as a patient, levelheaded, kind person, but this particular morning bright an early, the morning Lock was finally feeling better, Jack thought the last nerve he had that was keeping him from going completely insane was ready to snap.

Sally was exhausted from taking care of Lock for the last couple days, so Jack turned off her alarm while she was still asleep so she could sleep in a bit. The trio was up bright an early as usual, and Jack who was also pretty worn out from the week he's had decided for breakfast the trick or treaters could have the cereal Barrel had asked for yesterday, with little marshmallows in it. Seemed simple enough.

The pumpkin king placed three bowls on the table, Locks seat still right between Jack and the wall. Lock was so excited to be eating something that wasn't soup or mints he didn't even argue.

The master of fright knew better then to let them pour their own portions of cereal and milk, so he did it for them, starting with Shocks.

"Why does she get to go first!" Lock growled.

"I already told you why, ladies first," Jack explained simply, now moving over to Barrels empty bowl, "A gentlemen like yourself should know that Lock."

Shock snorted, "Lock, a gentlemen."

"Shock, a lady," Lock sneered back, rolling his eyes.

Jack finally got to Locks bowl, "Now, now, don't start with that this morning, please," The master of fright yawned, now eyeing the three of them, "Young ladies, and young gentlemen do not fight, is that understood?"

Well about five minutes after Jack said that, it was quite clear to him that what he had just said was apparently not so clear to them. Because after Jack poured the milk in each bowl, and thought everyone was happily eating breakfast, Jack heard Zero bark at something from upstairs. Jack had left the room for honestly only a minute to see what was troubling his beloved pet, only to find out Zero was only barking at a cat he seen from outside, the master of fright returned to the kitchen, to find everything in total chaos.

All three bowls were knocked over, with milk and cereal split all over the table and floor, and three kids in a puddle of milk on the floor wrestling with one another. Shock had Barrel pinned to the ground, wailing at him, and Lock yanking on Shocks hair.

The master of fright quickly ripped Lock away from Shock with one hand, and Shock off Barrel, "What did I just tell the three of you," When Jack spoke, it was obvious he was struggling to keep his voice calm.

"Shock started it!" Barrel blamed, getting up from the floor, "She knocked over my bowl of cereal!"

"I only knocked it over because I was reaching to punch Lock!" Shock defended, "Lock hit me with a spit ball! You didn't have to punch me!"

"Shock had more marshmallows than me!" Lock hissed.

"I did not!" Shock snarled.

Jack was already devolving a headache, why was nothing ever simple? "Enough please," Jack sighed, "I don't care who started what, I just want this terrible mess cleaned up."He noticed the trio was ready to argue with him, so he lifted a hand, "It took three of you to get into a fight, so it can take three of you to clean everything up. I'm not going arguing over this with any of you."

Cleaning up though became another disaster, a fight broke out over someone hogging the paper towel, and another fight broke out over whom wasn't doing their fair share of the work.

At one point Shock was wiping up a puddle of milk that was on the floor, Lock decided to stand over her nag at how she was wiping it up, Shock had enough of it and pushed Lock, causing him to ram into the table, knocking one of the glass bowls over and shattering on the floor.

Lock was quick to get back up, and lunged for Shock.

A fight between the two of them broke out once again, and a tired out Jack just couldn't take playing referee anymore this morning. He separated the squabble once again, with one hand he had a firm grip on Locks arm, with his other hand he grabbed Shocks arm. He marched the two children upstairs, and placed both of them in their rooms, warning them not to even attempt leaving until Jack had told them otherwise.

The pumpkin king returned downstairs, and helped Barrel clean up the rest. Jack knew it was probably a mistake sending Lock and Shock to their rooms and not making them clean up. Most days Jack could tolerate the fighting, but not today. The week has been to difficult and exhausting, he hadn't even left the house for three days, which was starting to drive him a little stir crazy.

After cleaning up Jack rewarded Barrel with another bowl of cereal, and just sat at the table and watched the child eat. Barrel was swinging his legs in his chair, and tapping his free hand on the table. It was obvious to Jack that he wasn't the only one going a little crazy being stuck inside for so long.

Sally had woken up, and Jack explained everything that had happened this morning.

"They sound pretty restless Jack," Sally said, handing Jack a dish to dry from breakfast.

"I know," Jack sighed, "I think all of us need to get out of this house for a little while."

"I have an idea!" Sally said brightly, "How about I make up a couple sandwiches and we have a picnic on spiral hill?"

Jack's face lite up at the idea, "Sally, that's a marvellous idea! Why I could kiss you-" The master of fright stopped himself, and looked at Sally, "Well I'd like to that is," He struggled not to blush.

Sally blushed back, looking into his dreamy eye sockets. Jack placed a bony hand on her cheek, and leaned in, his lips almost touching her beautiful lips...

"Jack-! What are you guys doing?" Barrel asked standing in the kitchen entry way.

Sally and Jack quickly straightened up, and Jack put both his hands to his side.

"Nothing, nothing at all," The master of fright said, slightly embarrassed, "Just talking, what did you want?"

Barrel made a face, eyeing both adults before he continued, "Lock and Shock have been yelling from upstairs wondering if they can come out now."

Jack had freed Lock and Shock from their punishment, and explained to the ex boogie boys the plan for dinner.

"Spiral hill is boring," Shock complained, sitting at the kitchen table.

"And picnics are for girls!" Lock added with a pout, also sitting at the table.

"Why do we have to do something so girly?" Barrel asked, sitting between Shock and Lock.

Jack and Sally were at the counter preparing the food for their lovely picnic, smiling at each other while listening to the childish complains.

"It'll be fun," Jack said simply.

"Oogie never made us go to some dumb picnic," Lock murmured.

Sally turned to the trick or treaters and smiled, "How do you know if it's going to be dumb and girly if you've never went on one?"

"Because Oogie Boogie only did cool things like playing poker, while you and Jack only do stupid boring things like picnics," Shock said.

"Jack can we play poker?" Barrel asked excitedly.

Lock and Shock also turned around in their seats with hopeful and excited eyes at their pumpkin king's answer.

"No." Jack said plainly, not even turning around to see three disappointed stares.

"How come?" Barrel whined.

"Because poker isn't for children," The pumpkin king explained simply.

"Oogie never said no," Lock murmured.

"And he never sent us to our rooms," Shock added.

"Or gave us bedtimes," Barrel whispered, crossing him arms, remembering the last couple days being sent to bed at 8:30, instead of when they lived in the tree house and bedtime was whenever you were so worn out you just pasted out on the floor.

Lock and Shock both nodded in agreement at Barrels statement.

Though the ex boogie boys were trying to whisper Jack and Sally still heard the complains.

"Saying no and having rules is a sign people love you and care about you," Sally said with a loving voice, looking at the trio.

Jack turned around, with his arms now folded leaning against the counter, "Sally is absolutely right." The trio gave the pumpkin king an unreadable stare, so Jack went on, "We are leaving in five minutes, so the three of you go get ready," Jack pointed to the doorway out of the kitchen.

There was a groan from the three children as the slowly slid of their seats.

"And put your jackets on!" Jack called from behind them.

Sally had the picnic basket in her hands while waiting with Jack an Zero at the front door. Zero had looked completely unimpressed when he saw the three wicked ex boogie boys come trudging down the stairs.

Each child had their coats on,and masks on, Shock the first one down the stairs, Barrel was close behind, and Lock the very last dragging his feet.

"Is everybody ready?" Sally asked happily.

"Sure," Shock grumbled.

"Then let's go!" Jack said excitedly, opening the front door and holding it for everyone.

As they walked to spiral hill Jack and Sally linked arms, enjoying the beautiful spring scenery, with Zero right at their side.

The trio trudged behind them, Lock to the right, Barrel in the middle, and Shock to the left.

"Why are Jack and Sally so lovey dovey like that any ways," Shock whispered, rolling her eyes.

"I saw them about to kiss early," Barrel whispered back.

"That's just gross!" Lock scowled in utter disgust.

Once they arrived to spiral hill Jack and Sally started setting up the picnic area so they could soon enjoy lunch.

Lock had noticed something and gestured for the other two to follow.

"Where are you three going?" Jack asked, noticing them about to wander off.

"Just over there," Lock pointed.

"Stay where we can see you," Sally said softly, setting out the plates.

Lock rolled his eyes, "Okay whatever, can we go now?"

"I don't know," Jack tested, "Can you?"

Barrel and Lock were completely lost at what Jack wanted from them so Shock answered for them, "May we," She corrected.

"Certainly " The master of fright smiled, satisfied with that small bit of politeness.

Jack and Sally watched as the trio scurried off, grinning at one another. It really was the perfect day for a picnic.

When the ex boogie boys were a safe distance away from spiral hill Lock spoke up.

"When did you become so polite?" Lock hissed, shooting a glare at Shock.

Shock just rolled her eyes, "It was just to get Jack off our backs, sorry for trying to help."

"Yeah sure, I bet it's really just because you got a big crush on Jack or something," Lock tormented, which got a snicker from Barrel. Lock elbowed his younger cohort, "That's why she was so jealous when Jack and Sally were linking arms."

Shock just rolled her eyes, "Oh yeah, how did you know?" She said sarcastically.

"You're a girl," Lock mocked, "You're in to all that kissy, kissy stuff."

Shock lift up her mask and smirk at her devil cohort, "Oh really," She said deviously, with a new idea on how to torment Lock just popping in her head.

Barrel had taken notice of the look she had, and cautiously stepped back. Whatever she was up to, Barrel didn't want to be caught in the middle of it.

Lock stood bravely in his place. He knew she was up to something, but she didn't scare him, "Yeah really," He challenged read to fight, as Shock stepped closer and closer to him.

"Well in that case," Shock grinned, "Let me give you a big smooch," She pressed her lips out, darting for Lock.

Lock was horrified, "Get away from me!" The devil screamed, holding his mask to his face, and stepped back.

"Come here Lockie," Shock cooed, reaching her arms out at Lock, she didn't plan on really kissing him, but instead wanted to enjoy tormenting him for as long as she possibly could.

"I said get away from me-!" Just then the devil boy tripped on a rock, and tumbled on the ground, knocking off his only shield of protect from Shocks lips touching his, his mask. "Barrel help me!" Lock cried, trying to back away from Shock who was, quickly approaching.

Barrel just ignored his friend and stood back and laughed, Lock and Shock fights were without a doubt, always the best to watch.

Shock was now over top of Lock making kissy sounds, getting as close to him as she could, without actually touching him.

Lock had struggled to try to push her off, "I'm sorry Shock, look I didn't mean it okay!" He pleaded.

Shock continued to make kissy noises, and pinned his arms to the ground, "Come on Lockie, don't you want a kiss," She still cooed.

"I'm begging you Shock," Lock pleaded helplessly, struggling to try to break free from her powerful grip.

Shock stopped for a second, and just watched him struggle. She enjoyed the sight for just a moment before continuing with her little game, "Come closer Lockie, _muah muah muah."_

" **NOOO!"** Lock screamed as Shock got to close for comfort, " **AHHHH!"**

"What is going on?" A familiar male adult voice asked.

Shock turned to look, with her distracted Lock squirmed away from her grasp.

"She's a manic!" Lock hissed getting up, pointing to Shock.

Jack raised an eye socket a little confused, so Barrel explained.

"Shock tried to kiss Lock," The youngest trick or treater giggled, which caused Shocks cheeks to turn a little red.

The master of fright noticed, and grinned a bit at the sight.

Barrel kept laughing, pointing at Lock, "You should have heard yourself, screaming like a baby, she got you good this time!"

Locks cheeks became three times more red, then Shocks, "You wouldn't be laughing if she did that to you!" The devil barked at Barrel, Lock was clearly embarrassed.

"Yeah like I was actually going to kiss you," Shock hissed, her cheeks getting to be almost the same shade of red as Locks.

Barrel pointed at the two of them, "Look they're blushing!" He couldn't help, but burst out laughing.

Jack struggled himself not to laugh, "Sally said lunch is ready," The pumpkin king grinned, watching a blushing and embarrassed Lock and Shock.

The pumpkin guided the trio back up to spiral hill, without a single word from Lock or Shock. The thing that made it worse was neither one knew exactly why they were so humiliated.

The picnic was pretty quiet, other than Barrel giggling from time to time. Lock and Shock sat as far away from each other as possible, moving around in their spots on the blanket awkwardly. The two older boogie boys never felt so uncomfortable around one another ever before, as long as no one brought up what had just happened...

"Why's everyone so quite?" Sally asked, completely oblivious what had happened minutes ago.

Barrel snickered, which caused Jack to grin a little bit, which in returned infuriated Lock and Shock.

"Oh shut up Barrel!" Lock growled, now getting up, "Or all knock your head off!"

Jack had gestured for the boy to sit back down, "Lock what did I tell the three of you this morning?" The devils face fell completely blank, so the master of fright answered for him, "I said, young ladies, and young gentlemen do not start fights."

"Barrel started it!" Lock snarled, and then pointed to Shock, "And what about her, and what she did to me, you never said anything to her!"

"You said I liked kissy, kissy things!" Shock snapped back, defending herself.

"Well obviously you do!" Lock barked at her.

Jack bit his cheeks to hold back from smiling, "Now, calm down." The pumpkin king said lifting a hand to get some peace, "Now calm down please," Jack said, scanning over the three kids, "Shock I wouldn't get to upset over what he said. Whether what he said was true or not-"

"It wasn't" Shock mumbled, cutting Jack off.

The pumpkin king nodded and continued, flashing a grin at Lock, "Someday very soon Lock is going to love all that _kissy kissy_ stuff, it'll be all he will ever think about." Barrel started to giggle, so Jack turned to him, "Same with you Barrel."

Barrel had immediately stopped laughing, and Lock looked even more mad then before.

"Never," He gripped, crossing his arms and firmly shaking his head, "Kissing is gross, and girls are gross."

"What he said!" Barrel agreed, coping Lock, but not nearly as angry.

The master of fright kept grinning, eyeing the trio, "You say that now, but when the three of you are older, someday you will find that special someone, someone that is just so wonderful, when you see that person, you will feel scared, shaky and nervous, all at the same time" He turned his gaze to Sally, "And this person will be perfection in your eyes, and they will make you so happy, and you will just love that person so much because they will be the best thing that has ever happened to you."

Sally felt her heart begin to pound, looking into Jack's eyes, and his gaze was looking into her. He was so right.

The two gazed into each others eyes, which made the three ex boogie boys want to puke. Jack and Sally only snapped out of it when the trio started making barfing noises.

"Can you two cut it out!" Shock hissed.

"We're trying to enjoy our very first picnic," Lock growled.

"I dunno if I can stomach any more of this lovey dovey kissy stuff," Barrel complained, holding his stomach.

Sally smirked at Jack and continued with her lunch, while the pumpkin king just shook his head.

"Someday," He warned playful, looking at the trio once more, now actually looking forward to when that day would come for them.

"Joke will be on you Jack," Barrel sneered, trying to cover up how uneasy the entire conversation had made him.

"I'll hold you to it," Jack responded with a small chuckle, before continuing with his lunch.

Though they decided not to show it at all, the whole conversation concerned all three ex boogie boys. They weren't really going to end up like blubbering kissing morons like Jack and Sally, were they? Were their lives really going to be as miserable and gross as Jack and Sally's looked?

The walk home the master of fright and his lovely rag doll held hands, Jack even whistled happily, while they swung their linked hands back and forth joyfully. Zero still loyally close at their side, only turning to look at the three figures behind them every once and while.

For the first time in forever Lock, Shock, and Barrel didn't have a single thing to say. They were too busy in their own thoughts to even argue with one another. And when they got home all three of them hurried up to their rooms, slamming the doors behind them.

 **I meant to post this hours ago, but grammar checking everything took a little longer then I had hoped. I wanted something a little romantic for Valentines day, lol I'm not much of a romantic, but I gave it my best shot, and I hope you enjoyed, and I hope everyone is feeling the love today! Please tell me your thoughts!**


	13. Dear readers

Dear readers, I know it has been over a week since I updated, and I strongly apologies for that. The reason being why its been so long is because my laptop last week for some reason wasn't charging properly. About a week ago I took it in to have it repaired, and I just got it back today. Unfortunately I forgot to save the 4 or 5 pages I originally had already written for chapter 11. Since they found out it was just my charger that was broken, I had to wait for about a week for them to order me a new one. So 60 dollars later and a new charger, they must have shut down my computer (which is understandable) and my 4 or 5 pages I had in the works for chapter 11 are completely gone.

Its my own fault this happened, and I am really sorry. Chapter 11 is in the works once again, but honestly it is a little tough rewriting something I have already wrote. But it will be complete and the storey will go on I promise you! I haven't forgotten about this one bit! I just thought I'd update you guys on whats going on so you don't think I just dropped this. My next update will be soon! Sorry for the waiting!


	14. Chapter 11

**To all my readers, I sincerely apologies for how long it took to update! I really struggled with writers block on this chapter, rewriting a chapter you already wrote is extremely difficult, but I did it! I hope everyone enjoys this chapter, and again I am truly sorry this took so long.**

 _ **Chapter 11**_

Shock sat in her room on her bed, grumbling to herself, "Stupid picnic," She muttered, "Stupid Lock!" She growled spitefully. Like she'd ever touch his disgusting terrible lips. Not in a million years! She just wished someday Lock would become some dumb kissy face moron like Jack and Sally. So when that day came Shock would just laugh her head off.

She tossed a pillow across the room, and sighed for a moment, and stared at the ceiling. Shock then turned to where she had thrown the pillow and decided to pick it up. She slid off the bed and mindlessly walked over to retrieve her pillow. Once she scooped it up in her arms she turned back to the bed, but stopped herself at her makeup mirror when she noticed her reflection.

Shock never really took the time to look at her appearance before. It just never really mattered until right now she had to stop and think, she was pretty wasn't she? Or was she ugly?

That thought alarmed her. She was ugly, she had to be! That's why Lock didn't want her to kiss him because she's hideous! She set the pillow on the floor, and began toying with her hair.

Shock thought, maybe if I can get it to go straight or something, like Miss Sally's, then maybe I will a bit prettier. For a slit second she turned her gaze away from her hair and to her face, where she noticed how concerned she really looked.

She rolled her eyes and turned away from the mirror, "This is stupid!" She muttered to herself, "My hair is fine!"

Shock picked her pillow back up, and plopped down on the bed once again, gazing at the ceiling once more, she played with her hair a little bit, still worrying over her appearance. She tried to shake it off.

What's wrong with me? She thought to herself, All this stuff doesn't even matter, it never bothered me before and I am not starting to let it bother me today or any other day! She thought rolling her eyes.

Shock sat on her bed for a couple more minutes before finally giving in to temptation and getting back up and going back to her mirror to fuss over her hair some more.

Meanwhile

Lock was in his bedroom pacing back and forth, "Stupid Shock," He spat, "The next time she pulls anything like that," The devil clinched his fist and punched the air, "WHAM! Right in the nose!"

"That's a cheap shot."

Lock flicked his eyes to where he heard the familiar voice, "Ever come in my room without knocking and you will be the next one to get it!" He growled.

Barrel smirked and knocked on the open bedroom door, "Knock, Knock, Lock can I come in?" The youngest trick or treater asked sarcastically.

Lock glared at his cohort for a couple moments, "Just close the door behind you stupid!" He finally hissed.

Barrel scurried in the room lightly closing the door behind him.

Lock watched him close the door, and once it was closed he started to pace back and forth once again.

The youngest ex boogie boy crawled onto Locks bed, and just watched the young devil pace for a moment, "What's a matter with you anyway?" Barrel asked, "You and Shock have been hiding all day, it's almost suppertime, what's your problem?"

Lock stopped pacing and glared at his younger friend, "Who knows what Shocks problem is!" Lock threw his hands in the air, "And why should I care if she has a problem anyway! Like her feelings even matter!"

Barrel tried not to grin, making Lock even more angry was the last thing he wanted to do, "Shock got under your skin huh?" He asked, struggling to hold back a giggle.

"It's not Shock," Lock crossed his arms and turned away, "Well it's partly Shock, but mostly Jack and Sally," He sighed.

"Did Jack and Sally try to kiss you too?" Barrel asked, now unable to hold back a mocking smile.

"No you moron!" Lock roared turning back to Barrel, "How about you drop that whole kissing thing? It was over with hours ago! Stop being such an immature idiot! You think I would ever let anyone's disgusting lips touch me?!"

Barrel still had a grin on his face, "Well Jack said one day..."

"I know what Jack said!" Lock yelled, cutting Barrel off with his fists clinched, "Jacks stupid, he doesn't know anything!"

Barrel crossed his arms and rolled his eyes, "Oh come on, I'm sure he was just kidding, why can't you ever just take a joke?"

"It wasn't funny!" Lock screamed, "I hate Jack, and I hate Sally," He spat.

Barrel rolled his eyes, "Aw come on Lock they aren't that bad, you haven't even given them a chance."

Lock clinched his fists together and his teeth were grinding, "Get out," He said bitterly, pointing at the door.

"Lock," Barrel said softly, "Come on I wasn't trying to-"

"I said get out!" Lock shouted, stomping his foot firmly on the ground.

Barrel took noticed of his seriousness, and right away leaped up from the bed and rushed out of the room. An angry Lock was something nobody wanted to face. Barrel slammed the door behind him.

Lock was furious. The young boy began grabbing whatever he could find and throwing it across the room. He was sick for days, and once he was feeling better this is how people treated him! He wanted to scream, but he couldn't because good old Jack would come upstairs and start telling him what to do.

Lock hated being told what to do! If he was back home he could go back to doing whatever he wanted, but no good old jerk face Jack took away his tree house!

Jack and Sally are just trying to brainwash us all, Lock thought to himself. That thought filled the ex boogie boy with concern. Barrel had just defended them, oh no! Barrel was becoming brainwashed! Sure Lock hated the kid, but he was still one of his best friends, Lock couldn't let Jack and Sally turn his best friend into their minion!

Lock took a seat at the end of the bed for a moment and thought. What was he going to do to help Barrel? And what about Shock, Lock thought, I mean she's so sensitive, naive, and delicate. The ex boogie boy rolled his eyes, he supposed since she was so pathetically helpless, and Lock was the oldest boy he had no choice but to protect her. It's not like she could look after herself.

Lock put his head in his hands to think. What was he going to do? He thought for a couple more minutes before a brilliant idea popped in his head. He grinned deviously before getting up to explain his brilliant plan to Shock.

Lock didn't even knock he just barged right into Shocks bedroom, to find her at her makeup table fussing with her hair.

The devil boy raised an eyebrow at her, "What are you doing?"

Shock snapped her head in Locks direction, "Have you ever heard of knocking you moron!" She ripped her hands away from her hair, "Get out of my room idiot!" She growled.

Lock lifted his hands in the air to show he comes in peace, "Would you calm down," The devil rolled his eyes, "I have to tell you something."

Shock raised an eyebrow, "What's that?"

Lock lightly closed the door, "I got an idea," He said softly once the door was shut.

"That's amazing that almost never happens to you," Shock snorted.

"Shut up and listen," Lock growled, taking a seat on the end of the bed.

Shock leaned against the makeup table darting her eye's right at him, with her arms crossed. What kind of moronic idea was he about to suggest this time?

"We're running away from here," Lock grinned, clearly excited over what he thought was a brilliant plan.

Shock didn't share her friends enthusiasm, just like she expected, one of many dumb ideas that Lock thought up, and like usual comes to Shock because he needs her two figure out how to make his stupid plan actually successful.

"Where are we going to go?" Shock asked with no emotion in her voice.

"Away from here!" Lock announced, "Tonight!"

"What are we going to do for shelter?" Shock grumbled "And what about food?" She asked raising an eyebrow.

Lock stammered, "Well if you want to work out the minor details I can let you do that."

That comment made Shock furious, the details he always thought were so minor were the details that always made his stupid ideas work! How dare he say that!And how dare he said she's allowed to work them out, she doesn't need his permission to do anything!

"I always figure out all your dumb plans!" Shock growled, "Not this time, I'm sick of it! Do it yourself," She hissed rolling her eyes. Like he was actually capable of doing anything by himself, he was helpless without her.

"Aw come on Shock," Lock whined, ignoring her obvious anger, "We got to get out of here before we're all brainwashed. I'm scared one more day here and Barrel will become Jack and Sally's slave or something."

Shock just crossed her arms and shook her head.

Her stubbornness infuriated Lock, the young devil jumped off the bed and got right in Shocks face, "Well," He growled, his eyes sharply on Shock, "If I didn't know any better I'd almost think you've become one of Jack and Sally's slaves or something! I mean have you bothered to even look at yourself lately? Just a minute ago you were fussing over your hair!" Shock was about to protest, but Lock lifted a finger and kept talking, "Don't deny it! I just saw it with my own eyes! Ever since we moved in you've become this big girly girl or something! What happened to the old Shock? You know the one that wasn't such a stupid girly girl, and was a real boogie boy? I want her back!"

Shock looked at her friend, and then turned to the mirror just to gaze at her refection for a moment. Was everything Lock had just told her the truth? She didn't want to be one of those dumb girls fussing with her hair all the time, what's next? Makeup? Trying to find a boyfriend? No, she couldn't have it, and she wouldn't have it. It pained her to say it, but maybe Lock was right. Maybe Shock was becoming brainwashed, and was turning into this big dumb girl like Sally.

Shock didn't like Locks plan one bit, but if she didn't go along with and just stayed here for the entire month, maybe she would become the one thing she promised herself she would never be, a girly girl. A big stupid cry baby and overly sensitive girly girl.

"Fine," Her heart dropping at the dumb choice she had just made. She'd regret it, she was positive on that, but she had to prove to Lock she was still the best thing there was to ever be, a boogie boy.

Suppertime was for once actually peaceful. Lock was excitedly thinking about his plan for tonight and how well everything was going to go, while Shock was trying to work out all the bugs to make sure everything would actually go as planned, while Barrel just ate away at this supper happily and completely obvious to what his friends were plotting. Lock and Shock both agreed they would tell him later tonight, once they already placed a sleeping Barrel in the bathtub and carried him into the woods. The two oldest trick or treaters both agreed that if they Barrel the plan now since he was so brainwashed he would just snitch them out to Jack and Sally.

Jack and Sally both found it a little odd how peaceful everything was, but both of them decided not to question it for two reasons, one being it was nice to actually enjoy their meal in silence, and for two perhaps Lock and Shock were still a little uncomfortable from what had happened earlier today. At 8:30 the trio were sent to bed, and with no protect which was very strange, but the rag doll and pumpkin king didn't question it. Bedtime was usually like pulling teeth so this was a huge relief. Honestly their good behaviour after lunch concerned Jack, the last time they were this good they woke up the next morning and destroyed town hall. Maybe they just had a change of heart, but the master of fright had this feeling deep in his bones something was up.

Sally had gone to bed at 10, so the master of fright walked her to her bedroom, with Zero close behind. After Sally closed her bedroom door, Jack still had this strange feeling something wasn't right with the ex boogie boys.

He walked by each of their rooms, opening the door just slightly to take a peek inside to make sure everyone was in their rooms and sleeping. They appeared to all be asleep

"Zero," Jack said softly, closing Locks bedroom door, "Would you mind sleeping at the top of the staircase tonight, just in case," Jack glanced at the three bedroom doors, "I have this dreadful feeling they are going to try something tonight, perhaps I'm just worrying over nothing," The pumpkin king paused for a moment before looking at his beloved pet, "If they make a sound, or get out of bed and you notice I want you to bark, just to stay on the safe side, would that be alright?"

Zero nodded happily, even though he didn't really want to babysit the three little brats all night, he'd do anything for Jack. His master didn't ask for much, so when he did, he was more than agreeable.

Just then there was a small creaking noise from Barrels room.

Zero's eyes pecked up at the sound,"Woof! Woof-!"

Thank you Zero that will do," Jack whispered, he supposed he never explained to the dog to only bark when he wasn't around, but at least he followed his instructions.

Barrels head poked out from behind the door, his face was sleepy and his eyes looked heavy."What are you doing awake?" The pumpkin king asked, worried that the trio really were planning something awful, and he just caught Barrel in the act.

"I just had to ask Miss Sally something," Barrel said sheepishly, his voice was very tired sounding, it was quite clear to the master of fright the child had just woken up.

"She just went to bed, can I help?" Jack asked lovingly.

"I just wanted a glass of water," The youngest ex boogie boy said shyly.

Jack gave him a warm smile, "I can get you that, get back into bed and I'll bring it up to you.

"Barrel scurried back into his room and crawled back into bed. Zero watched him carefully from the hallway.

Jack had returned in a matter of two minutes at the most with a cup of water. He stepped into Barrels bedroom, and handed the child the glass, "Here you are," The pumpkin king said, taking a seat on the bed.

"Thanks," a sleepy Barrel yawned, before taking a slip.

"Why did you have to ask Sally for it?" Jack asked, was Barrel afraid of him or something?

The child blushed, lowering his glass, "I-I just-," Barrel couldn't think of how to word it, so he decided not to beat around the bush, "Didn't want to get into trouble.

"Jack chuckled over that statement, "Why would you get in trouble over wanting a glass of water?"

Barrel shrugged shyly, "Well you said if we ever got out of bed again we'd be banned from the tree house for another month," He struggled to make eye contact with the pumpkin king, "I just don't want to make you mad, I guess," He glanced up at Jack, "I don't think Sally's been mad a day in her life."

"You're probably right about Sally," Jack smiled, "And you're not going to get in trouble over asking me or Sally for anything," The master of fright put a bony finger under the boys chin so he'd look at him, "It doesn't make me mad whatsoever, what makes me mad is when the three of you decide to take off, and I don't know if you're hurt or need help, or where you are. I worry, and so does Sally, so when I get worried I get really upset, which seems like I'm angry, when I'm not." He paused for a moment, still looking at the child, "So if there is anything at all you would like or need help with please never be afraid to ask, alright?"

"Okay," Barrel squeaked, giving the master of fright a tiny smile, before continuing with his water.

Once Barrel was finished drinking Jack set his glass on the nightstand and tucked the child in. The youngest trick or treater didn't protest at all. Oogie Boogie would never have done that. Thinking of the Boogie man, Barrel decided to ask the pumpkin king one more question.

"Jack?" Barrel muffled in his sleepy voice, while Jack was just about to close the door.

"Yes?" The pumpkin king whispered back.

"Can we play poker tomorrow?" Barrel asked for a second time today, hoping the response would change.

The master of fright chuckled, "We can play go fish tomorrow, how does that sound?"

"What's that game?" Barrel asked.

"I'll teach you tomorrow," Jack said softly, "Now get to sleep, okay?"

"Okay," Barrel yawned, snuggling under the covers while Jack slowly closed the door.

The pumpkin king patted his wonderful and loyal Zero on the head once more before going to bed. He slept with a little more ease knowing maybe just maybe the trio wasn't plotting anything. The master of fright was actually looking forward to teaching the trick or treaters how to play go fish tomorrow. Maybe him and Sally could really bond with them then.

At 1:30 am Lock had awoken, it was showtime! He tiptoed over to the bedroom door, opening the door as softly as he could, to find a now sleeping Zero in the middle of the hallway. Shocks head poked out from behind her bedroom door. Lock pointed at Zero and put a finger over his mouth so she would know to stay quiet.

Shock just rolled her eyes, of course she was going to stay quiet. What a moron, she thought to herself.

The two oldest ex boogie boys quietly went downstairs and cleaned out Jack's fridge and placed everything in their bathtub. Once they had food the two oldest children worked as a team and quietly, but quickly carried a sleeping Barrel out of bed and tucked him in the bathtub, not disturbing him from his deep sleep at all.

The trick or treaters (other than Barrel) and the bathtub snuck out the front door. Lock lightly closed the front door behind him, and they took off into the spooky woods. In hopes of never having to return. What could possibly go wrong? Lock had thought, jumping into the bathtub joining Shock and his sleeping younger friend. Everything was going just as planned.

A Moment after they had headed to the woods Zeros ears perked up from after hearing what had sounded like the clicking of the front door...

 **I hope everyone enjoyed this chapter, I know a lot of people having been requesting that the trick or treaters run away so I thought I'd give it a try! Thanks for the suggestion! I promise to update soon guys, I haven't forgotten about this stupid, I have been pretty busy with everything in life, but I'm on march break now so hopefully things slow down. I am going to complete this story I promise you guys!**


	15. Chapter 12

Hey everyone sorry for the crazy long update once again. I am really sorry, I've been crazy busy, I promise I haven't forgotten about this story! I'm still going to finish it I promise! Also in my last little note to you guy I wrote "stupid" so you all know I wasn't calling anybody stupid (I love you guys!) It was just me being stupid for not re-reading my authors note. Also Happy late birthday Goth girl. And also I'd like to give a shout out to "Sally loves Jack". When I first read suggestions for doing something where they run away I wasn't going to do it, but after you asked I was like "huh maybe" and today here it is! Hope you guys enjoy!

 _ **Chapter 12**_

The bathtub crept through the creepy dark woods, with the three trick or treaters inside (Barrel still sound asleep) They were a fair distance from the manor at this point.

"So where are we going again?" Lock asked.

"Shh!" Shock snarled pointing at Barrel, "There should be an old abandon house just before we come to the swamp."

"How luxurious," Lock muttered, rolling his eyes.

Shock glared at him, "Like you had any better ideas." She grumbled.

Lock just rolled his eyes. Like she'd ever listen to any of his suggestions.

The trio was deeper into the woods now. Lock and Shock quietly bickered. Lock complained that they were lost, and Shock repeatedly reassured him they weren't lost. She knew the way, he just had to be patient, which was a skill Lock would most likely never develop.

Finally Shock saw her destination, "Here we-" Her excited voice faded as she got a better view of what she thought would be the perfect shelter.

Lock squinted at the building, which made Shock struggle not to flick, she crossed her fingers, in her mind begging him not to say anything.

"It's all falling down and sunken in the mud! Is this a joke! We can't sleep here!" Lock said, in total outrage.

"I realize that you moron!" Shock snapped back without thinking before she spoke. This was a terrible mistake, she didn't know the shelter was falling down and half of the building was in mud! What were they going to do now!

"What's going on?" A tired voice squeaked from inside the bathtub.

"Oh Nice going! Not only have to manged to screw up everything, you woke Barrel up!" Lock barked.

"Where are we?" Barrel yawned wiping his droopy tired eyes, clueless on everything that was going on.

Lock and Shock fell quiet unsure on how to explain the situation to their youngest friend.

Barrel wiggled from his comfortable little ball and looked around at his new strange surroundings, "Where are we?" He asked again, but with no responds, "Why are we in the middle of the woods?" The youngest ex boogie boy asked, now almost fully awake, but still no one answered him, "Someone better answer me!" Barrel demanded, wildly looking around at the scary woods.

Lock spoke up, "We, umm-"

He was cut of by an instead down pour of rain.

They all stood in the rain quietly for only a couple seconds, before Barrel broke the silence.

"I wanna go back to the manor!" The youngest trick or treater screamed. His chin began to quiver, and soon enough he broke into tears, completely terrified and frighten with everything going on. He didn't care why he was all of a sudden in the woods with Lock and Shock, he just wanted to be back to his warm bed, at Skellington manor, where it was safe.

"I agree with Barrel," Shock said blankly, watching Barrel cry his eyes out.

Lock looked at his friends with utter disbelief, "We can't go back! Jack will punish us again!"

"I don't care!" Barrel wailed, he had more tears then rain falling from the sky, "This wasn't even my idea!"

Shock felt nothing but sincere sympathy for her younger friend. She was the oldest, and supposed to be the smartest, so how did that devious little devil manipulate her into his bizarre plan? It was really her own fault, she was supposed to be the role model, Lock of course there was no help for him, but Barrel really didn't deserve to suffer from her stupid mistake. Like usual she let that stupid Lock get in her head, and sure she could put up with whatever trouble his manipulating brought on, but Barrel being the youngest, generally speaking as the oldest it should be her job to look out for his best interest.

"We're going back to the manor," Shock decided firmly, looking right at Lock.

Locks face fell in complete disbelief, "Are you kidding me? The mighty know-it-all brilliant Shock doesn't even have a back up plan! Just give up, go back, get in trouble and it's over?"

Shock yelled over the pounding rain, "We have nowhere's else to go, Barrel is crying, he wants to go back, and I want to go back!" Shock felt emotions swirl through her, a defeated and disparate kind of feeling, something she never felt before, "We're wet, we're cold, we're tired, and all the food is ruined now from the rain!" She pointed at the building that was falling apart, "And you know what, Lock? I'll admit I made a mistake! This shelter was a complete and utter disaster, and you want to know something Lock!" The rain poured a little harder, "I'm sorry Lock!" She turned to Barrel who was still crying, "And I'm sorry Barrel! She cried, "I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" She quivered ready to cry, "I'm sorry," She said once more in a voice of nothing but defeat. For the first time ever, letting her guard down. She broke in tears.

Lock blinked blankly at her, he never saw her like this. Shock never apologized for anything, and she certainly never cried. She was really upset, and Lock felt like it was his responsibility to take the blame for this entire plan. Perhaps it was a stupid plan, either way it wasn't worth seeing his two best friends this upset and discouraged. As the oldest boy it was his responsibility to keep Shock and Barrel protected and safe. It only felt right.

"Okay," Lock said, eyeing both his friends, "Let's go back." He said sincerely, now deciding he was going to take the blame for everything.

Just as they were about to steer the bathtub back home, a crack of thunder roared threw the forest, frightening the walking tub, and causing it to sprint off the trail and deeper in the woods...

Zero lead the way, with Jack and Sally close behind. Every now and then the young couple would call out the trick or treaters names, but was always a failed response.

"Where could they be," Sally said in a voice of nothing but worry.

"They couldn't have gotten to far," Jack reassured, trying to calm her, when really he was just as concerned.

Jacks words did not relax Sally one bit. They were only little kids, they could be seriously hurt, or cold and scared, and no adult was there to comfort them. As much as they might reject it, the rag doll promised herself that once they were found she would bundle them up in her arms and serve them the best hot chocolate she has ever made. Only letting them all go once they had fallen asleep, so she would know they were warm and safe once again.

The pumpkin king almost felt sick to his stomach he was so worried, "This is my fault," He sighed.

Sally looked at him, "How could this possibly be your fault Jack?"

The master of fright struggled to make eye contact with his beloved rag doll, "They hate me, "He stammered," I don't know, perhaps I've been a little to harsh with them, I wanted to actually be their friend and help them, but instead I just pushed them away," He chucked uncomfortably, trying to cover how broken he really was, "I mean they choose to battle with this terrible weather, over staying with me."

"This isn't your fault Jack," Sally said lovingly "None of it is, and you haven't pushed them away at all."

"Sally their afraid of me," The master of fright said, sounding almost hurt, "Earlier tonight Barrel wanted you to get him a glass of water instead of me because he thought I was going to be angry with him or something." It was quiet for a moment, "I scare them Sally."

Sally gave him a tiny smile, her heart truly broke for Jack. He shouldn't feel this way at all because none of it was true.

"Jack," The rag doll said softly, "They aren't afraid of you, they respect you, and listen to you."

The pumpkin king shook his head, "No Sally, they respect you, they're just afraid of me."

Sally shook her head, "You have it all wrong Jack really. I admire you, you're fantastic with them, and I mean that. I couldn't get them to do half the stuff you can. I don't know how you do it, I'm kind of jealous actually."

"Oh please Sally don't humour me please, it's like you've raised children or something before, you always know exactly what to do. You always know exactly how to take care of them, like when Lock was sick, I don't know how you handled the two of them all by yourself, I couldn't do that."

Sally blushed at that last comment, she never told Jack the entire truth on what really went on that day while he was out with Barrel, and she'd rather not bring it up.

"Barrel looks up to you Jack," Sally pointed out, changing the subject.

"He's afraid of me," The pumpkin king sighed.

The rag doll lightly touched the master of frights arm, "He just doesn't want to get in trouble again," Sally gave her boyfriend a tiny smile, "You can just tell, he's trying so hard to impress you."

"Then why did he take off?" Jack asked in a empty voice.

"You know how the other two can be, very persuasive at times," Sally said, trying to sound cheery.

"Lock and Shock, I can't tell which one hates me the most," Jack sighed again, "Maybe it was a mistake taking away the tree house, I mean if I never took it away they wouldn't be out in this horrible weather, and before I took it away I never thought they hated me as much as the clearly do now. I mean they rebel every single chance they get, and with you they are good as gold. It's me Sally, really it has to be me, something about me is the problem."

"Jack," Sally said seriously to get his undivided attention. She couldn't let Jack kick himself down for believing something that wasn't even true. Confession time was now.

She took a deep breath, "The morning Lock was sick and you and Barrel left for town, Lock was being completely unreasonable and threw pillows at me demanding I leave his bedroom. He even attempted to sneak out of his room. Shock ripped the kitchen apart and wouldn't help me clean it up when I asked her to," Sally felt like the world was spinning around her, "Then Shock was jumping on Locks bed, Lock was sick and throwing pillows again and yelling and-and, they wanted soda, so I-," Sally paused for a moment, shaking a bit, she looked away from Jack before confessing her terrible crime, "I found a bottle of deadly nightshade in the mess in the kitchen and slipped only the smallest amount in their drinks so they would fall asleep, and I cleaned the kitchen up to look like I had everything under control before you got home because I wanted you to think I could handle it," Sally felt like she was going to cry after hearing her terrible crime out loud, "They just weren't listening, and I wanted him to feel better, and I-," She paused, "I'm a terrible person!" The rag doll cried, putting her head in her hands, trying her best not to cry.

Jack took a moment to let everything his girlfriend had just told him to sink in. Once it all did, he started to chuckle, he chuckled a little more, until it turned into a roar of laughter.

Sally snapped her head back up and glared at him, "What's so funny?" She pouted.

"Sally, my dear," Jack laughed, now holding his stomach, "A-and here I thought it was just me!" The pumpkin king tried to calm his laughing.

Sally's eyes widen, "So you're not disgusted with me?"

"Oh Sally, darling, I thought this whole taking care of kid things was going to be easy, a-and you made it look like it was supposed to be simple, and it was just me doing everything wrong," He took a second to laugh some more, "Come to find out both of us are drowning, but both of us are too afraid to admit 99% of the time three little munchkins have us beat!"

Sally couldn't help, but giggle a little bit, it seemed so silly, but it was the truth. Even if the ex boogie boys didn't know it, Jack and Sally had manged to pretend they were these big strong adults that knew everything, when in all reality they didn't have a single clue what they were even doing, but they just kept going because, despite thinking they were these terrible failures, they really loved and cared for these three little monsters that were causing them so much stress.

The couple never realized how much the other one was struggling with this whole being a parent to three kids thing. They were both drowning and overwhelmed, but were too afraid to admit it to one another until now.

Jack paused from his laughing, "Sally," The pumpkin king wrapped an arm around her waist, "I'm not disgusted with you at all, if I was in your shoes at the time I would have done the same thing. Really you're doing a great job, you have nothing to feel guilty about."

Sally turned to the master of fright, "Same with you Jack. You're doing great, so please stop doubting yourself, you have nothing to worry about." The rag doll put and arm behind him.

It was quiet for a moment.

Jack smiled at her, "So for now on we're a team in this."

Sally smiled back, giving him a tiny, but sincere nod.

Meanwhile the bathtub had just slowed down, and Lock, Shock, and Barrel were completely lost somewhere's in the middle of the woods.

Lock and Shock climbed out of the tub to try to figure out where they even were.

Barrel popped his head out of the bathtub to also view his new surroundings, "Where are we?" The little boy asked nervously, "Are we lost?"

Lock snapped his head around to Barrel, "We're not lost!" He growled at the younger child.

Barrel was cold, tired, and afraid, but there was a small glimmer in his terrified eyes that believed Lock. The youngest ex boogie boy put a blanket over his head, and ducked in the bathtub.

Lock sighed in relief that he actually believed him.

The young devil turned to Shock, "I don't know where we are," He whispered, making sure Barrel didn't overhear them.

Shock nervously looked around for a couple seconds before answering her friend, "It's too dark," She said emotionless, "I can't tell."

"What are we going to do?" Lock asked quietly.

Shock inspected the area, "I don't know," She sighed, still not having a clue where they were or how they were going to get home.

There was another crank of thunder.

Lock shivered at the terrible noise, "Sounds close," He whispered nervously.

Shock just rolled her eyes, "Don't be a baby Lock, thunder can't-"

The young girl noticed a flicker of lighting, and out of fear was unable to complete her sentence.

"Hurt us, I know, I know," Lock grumbled, not noticing how terrified Shock had looked.

There was another flicker of lightning.

Shock started to panic, it was getting closer! It had to have been!

"Hey what's wrong?" Lock asked, now noticing Shock breathing heavily and shaking.

She didn't answer, slowly backing away from her two friends. She was so scared she couldn't even think straight. Everything was a blur.

"What's wrong with Shock?" Barrel asked, popping back up from the bathtub.

"Shock, come on what's wrong?" Lock called.

Two more blinks of lightning blinked in the sky. Her breathing became heavier, and it was like everything around her was spinning with fear, as she moved further and further away from the group.

There was a powerful gust of wind.

"Shock, look out!" Lock screamed, running towards her, waving his arms wildly in the air.

Shock heard a cranking noise above her, right away noticing the tree right above her head was coming crashing down to the ground. She wanted to run, but out of terror and shock from everything that happening around her, she felt unable to move.

A second of just seeing the tree falling, it was only going to take one more second for it to come crashing down and hit her. It was all just happening too fast!

The tree touched just the top of her tall hat, when a long tall shadow pushed her out of the way right in time.

Shock slipped into a mud puddle, from the shove to safety, the moment she fell she heard the most sicking snap she ever heard in her life.

The powerful tree landed. Snapping Jack Skellingtons leg clean in half...

So happy I finally wrote this chapter, I know you guys have been asking for a chapter like this, so I really hope it was everything you wanted it to be. Also I had a review a couple chapters ago asking if I thought Jack was alive at some point, sorry I forgot to answer you, but yes I do think Jack was human at some point, I mean to be dead you have to be alive at some point right? Thanks for the question! And also thank you to everyone that has reviewed, I hope to get some for this chapter! And I'll see you all in chapter 13! :)


	16. Chapter 13

**Hey everyone! Thanks for all the fantastic reviews! I hope this chapter doesn't disappointed! I loved writing this chapter, one of my personal favourites so far :). Also I would like to give a couple shout outs to "Running from my" "Seto Beautiful B" and "Gothic girl" I hope everything in your guys life if going good, and I hope you guys are healthy and happy! Also would like to give a shout out to "SallyandJack" I've noticed you review a lot so I thought you deserved a shout out :) Anyways thanks again to all my readers, love you guys, and I hope you enjoy this chapter!**

 _ **Chapter 13**_

The rain pondered against doctor finklesteins window like tiny rocks, and the thunder and lightning had still roared outside. Lock and Barrel stood gazing out the window mindlessly, feeling terrible about what had happened to Jack. Shock was in the corner of the room feeling twice as guilty. It was that stupid lightning, if she wasn't such a coward Jack would have never gotten hurt like he did.

Sally entered her old bedroom at the doctors manor holding a tray with three cups of piping hot chocolate just like she promised herself she would do. It was quite a traumatic night, but even with the terrible event that had happened, she was relieved all three trick or treaters were back in her care.

Sally was actually pretty amazed with herself, she was so shaken up by everything, but she still managed to stay calm enough to help Jack to the doctors manor, and manged to find warm pjs for each trick or treater, and still made hot chocolate.

The rag doll set the tray on the nightstand and took a seat on the bed, waiting for the trio to rush over, but no one did.

"I got the hot chocolate!" Sally said brightly, smiling a bit to lighten the mood.

Barrel turned away from the window with a sad face, "Is Jack going to be okay?" He asked shyly, walking over to Sally.

Sally scooped him up in her arms and placed him on her lap, "Jack is going to be just fine," She said warmly.

"How do you know?" Lock asked, turning away from the window.

The rag doll patted the bed, reluctantly Lock walked over and took a seat.

Sally wrapped and arm around him, pulling him closer to her side, Lock was too shaken up by everything that had happened he didn't even reject the affection, at this point it almost felt good.

"He's a skeleton," Sally reassured.

Lock looked up at her, "But you saw his leg, snapped clean in half!"

How could she forget such a terrible imagine? If only it was her that this had happened to, they could have just pulled her leg out from underneath the tree, sewed it back on and they could all just went home, no big deal.

Though Jack's case wasn't as serous as it seemed. Of course it hurt him terribly, but Jack could also take of his head whenever he pleased to do so, and pull a rib off his body for Zero to play with. If the tree would have hit the joint area in his leg it could have easily been snapped back into place, but since it broke the bone right in half the doctor would have use a special kind of glue to glue everything back together. He might be in crutches for a few days to let the glue set, but after that, he'd be good as new.

"The doctor can glue it back on," Sally said confidently.

"This is all my fault," Shock said from the corner of the room.

Sally turned in her direction, "You didn't know that tree was going to fall Shock, you can't blame yourself for something you couldn't control."

"We did run off though," Shock muttered.

"You didn't run off with the intentions of Jack getting hurt, so please stop blaming yourselves for something that was just a terrible accident that nobody could have prevented." Sally spoke as sweetly as she could.

"I bet Jack really hates us now," Barrel sighed.

Sally lifted his chin with her free hand so the little boy would look her in the eye, "Jack doesn't hate any of you at all-"

"I bet you hate us too," Lock interrupted, crossing his arms, but his face a little sad.

Sally pulled him a little closer, moving her hand from Barrels chin to Locks, gesturing for both to keep their eyes on her, "Me and Jack do not hate the three of you at all. We love you, and we care more than you can even imagine.

It was quiet for a couple seconds after that. Sure Sally and Jack had said something about them caring about the trio before, but for some reason this time felt different. How on earth could they possibly still care about them? What happened to Jack was absolutely terrible, and it was the trick or treaters fault, well Lock and Shock's fault, but still how could Sally and Jack still care? And why? Maybe her words meant nothing, but it was something Oogie Boogie would have never said, and if one of them ever mistakenly did harm the Boogie man, there was no doubt he would have hurt them.

"Now how about some hot chocolate?" Sally said, deciding to break the quietness.

The trio was hesitant at first, but their growling tummies got the better of them.

Meanwhile the doctor had just given Jack a needle so he wouldn't be able to feel any pain in his leg.

He touched the broken area lightly, "What do you feel Jack?"

"Nothing," The pumpkin king said calmly, laying down on the operating table, "Thank you doctor."

The doctor began with gluing the bone back in place, "Why Jack I'm so relieved I could help my boy, it sounds like it's been a rough night for you and Sally."

Jack gazed up at the ceiling, even for the master of fright it was just to disturbing to see half of his left leg torn away from the rest of his body.

"We found them, that's what's important," Jack said.

"Most indeed, right in the nick of time too." The doctor said back, "Why I remember when I'd be out looking for Sally in nights like today. It was absolutely frightening."

Jack nodded, "Yeah, that sums up how we felt looking for them. For little kids they move pretty fast."

"Must be quite a handful I'm sure."

The pumpkin king nodded, "It's not as easy as I thought it would be," He chuckled, "Why some day it feels almost down right impossible to get through to them."

"That little one you brought in last week, he seemed okay," The doctor said with a light smile.

Jack nodded, "Oh yes, Barrel's a sweet little kid. Lock and Shock, the two older ones, they are more stubborn then I think I'll ever be," Jack thought for a moment, "Oh my goodness though, those two are amusing, just yesterday we went on a picnic, Shock tried to kiss Lock or something as a prank. When I caught them you should have seen the two blush," The pumpkin king couldn't help but grin a little bit, remembering the two kids faces earlier today.

"I'm glad you're enjoying your house guests. Everyone in town is pitying you and Sally."

Jack raised an eyebrow, but still refused to look over to the doctor, "What are they saying now?"

"Just about what they had done to the town hall mostly. Also, Barrel ruining all those potions..."

"That was an accident," The pumpkin king pointed out.

"Oh," The doctor said, "I heard stories he started throwing things and just having a fit."

The master of fright shook his head, "All rumours, he tripped and mistakenly knocked them over. I should know I was standing right there."

"Well you know how those witches talk," He paused for a moment, "And Lock puked on the mayors shoes." The doctor chuckled, "True or not, I find that one rather amusing."

Jack smiled a bit, "Yeah that one happened, just bad timing I suppose."

"I suppose." The doctor grinned.

Meanwhile the ex boogie boys had just finished their hot chocolate.

Sally was sitting up in the centre of the bed with a tired Barrel curled up on her lap, Shock to her right, and Lock to her left. She wrapped an arm around both them. The two ex boogie boys wanted to reject her affection, but they were both too tired and concerned at this point to even care.

"Are we going to be in trouble?" Lock finally decided to ask.

Sally really didn't know how to answer his harmless question. The rag doll felt like the three had already been punished by walking around in the rain all night. And she still didn't really know why they chose to take off, they deserved at least a fair chance to explain themselves before being punished. Besides it wasn't really up to Sally.

"I don't know," The rag doll said honestly.

"Do you think we're going to get banned from the tree house for another two months?" Shock asked.

Again Sally really didn't know the answer. She thought that seemed a little harsh for something they were clearly sorry about, but then again they still ran away.

"I think we will all have to talk things over before we decide," Sally said again giving them an honest answer.

The trio groaned at her response. Having a talk was ten times worse then being punished, and having to discuss why and how they should be punished, they just couldn't win.

"Just don't worry about it for right now. Everything is going to be okay, really it is," Sally said sweetly.

"Why are you always so nice?" Lock blurred, almost a little annoyed. Nobody was ever that nice.

"Yeah," Shock added on, "We almost killed your boyfriend, shouldn't you be mad or something?"

"Do you not like Jack or something?" Lock added.

"Just because he's her boyfriend doesn't mean she's supposed to like him stupid," Shock muttered at Lock.

"It doesn't?" Barrel asked, staring up at the rag doll.

Sally couldn't help but smile, "Of course I like Jack," She said simply.

"Do you like Jack, or do you like, like Jack?" Lock asked.

Sally was a little confused on what he was trying to ask. What was the difference between one like, and two? "What's the difference?"

"There's like," Shock explained.

"And then there's like, like," Lock added simply.

"Like, like is when you really like someone," Barrel said.

Sally grinned at his explanation, "I guess I like, like him," The rag doll said, confident in her answer.

"Why?" Barrel asked, innocent as ever. Lock and Shock stared her down, also interested in her answer.

Sally was a little lost on how to answer that question. It was just a simple question, so why was thinking of an answer so challenging? "Well, I don't know," Sally said, waiting for the answer to come to her, "I guess because I love Jack," She blurted out simply.

"Why?" Barrel asked harmlessly again.

Sally looked at the six interested stares, waiting for her answer. How on earth did they even get into this conversation? And why were they suddenly so fascinated?

"Well I don't know-"

"You don't know why you love Jack?" Lock asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Then how do you know that you love him?" Shock asked.

"I do know, but I don't," Sally said, even a little unsure on what she was even saying, hopefully they could make sense of it, "It's hard to explain."

"Well just try your best to explain," Lock said.

"Why are you so interested?" Sally asked, trying to laugh off how embarrassed she was.

Shock spoke up, "Because Jack said earlier today that all of us are going to be,"She cringed before she spoke, "all miserable and gross like you and Jack are someday."

"So if you warn us now, we can avoid it for the future," Lock added.

Barrel nodded in agreement.

"You three are being ridiculous," Sally chuckled, "Love is a good thing," Sally paused for a moment, "Love is the best thing in the whole wide word." She paused again, thinking of her beloved Jack, "Why, I'd do anything for Jack."

Shock crossed her arms, "I wouldn't do anything for a boy, boys are stupid."

Lock narrowed in on Shock, sticking his tongue out at her.

Shock pointed at him, "My point exactly,"

The rag doll giggled, "They grow out of it," Sally whispered in the young girl's ear, "Every prince starts out as a frog. Or from my experiences."

Lock raised and eyebrow, "What's that supposed to mean?" His voice sounded almost offended.

Sally stammered, she didn't mean for the boys to hear her, but from the looks on Lock and Barrel's face it was quite clear they heard everything she just told Shock.

"What was wrong with Jack?" Barrel asked.

Again all six eyes went on the shy rag doll. This time Sally couldn't hold back but to blush just a little bit. "Well, umm where I first met Jack-"

"Where'd you meet him at?" Shock asked, cutting Sally off.

"Spiral hill," Sally said, remembering the day perfectly.

"How'd you guys meet?" Barrel asked.

Sally smiled a bit, still blushing. This was such a silly conversation to have with a bunch of kids.

"Well it was when I was still living here, with the doctor," The rag doll began, "He took me for a walk that day, and we went to spiral hill." She smiled a little more, "I noticed Jack standing right on the hill with Zero. When I first saw him I was just so taken by him," Sally blushed a little more, "I remember desperately wanting to speak to him, just to say hello, or something, but the doctor wouldn't let me."

"Why not?" Shock blurted.

"Apparently it was the pumpkin kings special thinking place, and I would have been bothering him if I spoke to him," Sally rolled her eyes, the memory had still frustrated her, "And we had to go straight home afterwards."

"Well then you didn't meet Jack that day," Lock pointed out.

"Oh yes I most certainly did," The Rag doll smirked, "Later that day I ran off when the doctor wasn't looking and went back into town to spiral hill."Sally sighed, "But I was too late because Jack wasn't there anymore." Sally's eyes twinkled, "But I knew I had to meet him, so I waited beside a gravestone for him to return. It was his special thinking place, so he was bound to return sooner or later." Sally chuckled, "I waited for hours! It was around suppertime, and I remember being so hungry. The tombstone I was sitting next to there was this plant growing beside it. I was so hungry that even a plant looked good enough to eat, so I plucked off a leaf and gave it a taste." Sally smiled a little wider, "That was a stupid idea because it turned out the piece of leaf I ate was deadly nightshade, so I fell asleep."

"That's it?" Lock disgusted with the story, "You just fell asleep?"

Sally laughed, "Yep, I was asleep for hours. I remember dreaming, and in the middle of my dream I kept hearing this voice say, 'excuse me Miss' over and over again, and it felt like someone was shaking me a little bit. I woke up and," Sally's face lite up, "And there he was. I remember being so embarrassed."

"Why?" Barrel asked.

Sally struggled not to laugh, "Oh it was so terrible," She giggled, "Because I fell asleep for so long, once I woke up my breath smelt horrid, and I fell asleep on the ground, so the first time Jack saw me, I had leaves stuck in my hair, and grass stains and dirt all over my dress. It was the most embarrassing day of my life. I can only imagine what Jack was thinking when he first saw me, must have thought I was crazy," Sally took a moment to laugh so more, "But," She continued, "Even though I looked like a homeless person, Jack was still friendly and polite to me," She paused for a second, "That's one of the things I love the most about Jack, no matter who it is, he speaks to everyone with the same level of respect. No matter who you are, no one in Jack's eyes is beneath him." Sally shrugged, "That's why he's such a good pumpkin king."

"Then why was he a frog at first?" Shock asked.

"Well I-," Sally stammered, "I was in love with Jack for a long time before he actually noticed. I mean he is the pumpkin king so he was usually pretty busy, so maybe that's why it took him so long to realize my true feelings for him. He was so oblivious for what felt like a lifetime, but once he noticed me he turned into my perfect prince charming." Sally smiled sweetly.

The boys looked completely grossed out by Sally's little love story, but Shock on the other hand was a little more touched by it. It was just so romantic! She flashed a glare in Locks direction, who was now, making puking noises. That big dumb idiot wouldn't know a single thing about romance if it punched him in the face. Shock didn't see a single hope for either one of the boys. Neither one of them would ever grow out of it like Sally said, especially Lock, he was just too immature.

"Are you and Jack going to get married?" Barrel blurted innocently.

Sally's cheeks felt almost as warm as they did the very first day she met Jack, "Well, umm maybe, I don't know."

"You said you loved him though, so why aren't you guys married?" Lock questioned.

"You have to be asked first moron," Shock growled, glaring at Lock.

Lock pointed at Sally, "Then why doesn't she just ask him?" The young devil questioned again, staring Shock down. Honestly she was such a know-it-all all the time, it drove him crazy!

"Because the boy is supposed to ask, don't you know anything?" Shock argued back.

Lock rolled his eyes, "Sorry, I'm not in to all this lovey stuff like you apparently are."

Shock clinched her fists together, and growled, ready to argue with him, but Barrel spoke first.

"If Jack asked you to marry him, you would say yes, right?"

Sally's cheeks were still burning red. "Well, umm-"

"And how many kids do you think you'd want to have with Jack?" Barrel also asked, excitedly.

Sally blinked back and forth at each set of curious young eyes, completely flustered on how to answer such innocent questions. The rag doll tried to look on the bright side, at least they stopped feeling guilty, for a little while at least.

Sally's cheeks were on fire. "Well, umm-"

 **I realized I made a mistake with my last chapters title, opps! Oh well! I hope everyone enjoyed this chapter, I had people asking for a chapter like this since like chapter 2 and I loved the idea, but it didn't really fit any where in the story till now. I hope it was everything you guys hoped it would be, and thank you everyone for the idea! I'd love to hear what you guys thought of my newest chapter! Also happy early St Patricks day everyone! And I will see you all in chapter 14 :)**


	17. Chapter 14

**Okay I am so sorry! I know all my readers probably hate me because it took me over a week to post this! I am so sorry! I am slowly coming out of my writers block, but I'm pressing on, this story will be finished, I promise! Actually I had this chapter completed Friday night, but I was to tired to go over the grammar check, and Saturday I was busy. Sorry guys! Hope you enjoy!**

 **I don't own anything to do with Nightmare Before Christmas**

 _ **Chapter 14**_

Sometime shortly after Sally's little story on how she met Jack, the ex boogie boys fell asleep. Sally lovely pulled up the covers on her old bed, and knelled to give each child a small, but sweet kiss on the forehead. After she gave them a kiss, she noticed a little grin on each one of their faces.

The rag doll was happy to see them finally asleep, warm and safe in her care. Poor little things, it must have been so frightening for them out in such miserable weather, they deserved to sleep. Having pleasant dreams, Sally had hoped.

Sally hobbled out of the room, turning off the light and closing the door softly behind her. Now that they were taken care of, it was time to check in with Jack. Hopefully the doctor was finishing up with putting Jacks cast on by now. Poor Jack, if only Sally could run, she could have pushed Shock out of the way. Still it was a relief Jack was able to get to her on time, gluing an entire body back together would be ten times more challenging and painful over a leg. Still though, a broken-off-leg was a horrible thing to happen to anyone, even a skeleton.

Outside the door Jack and the doctor were in, Zero laid protectively. The pooch disliked Lock, Shock, and Barrel to begin with, after tonight the dog didn't want his master around those terrible three ever again. If Jack hadn't broken his leg, Zero might have had a change of heart about the three being out in the rain, but after that tree snapped Jack's leg in half the dog would have been the first to vote to leave the wicked little brats out in the storm in the middle of the woods alone. Sally and Jack were too nice sometimes, the loyal dog had thought.

Zero growled when he heard footsteps coming down the hallway. No way was he letting one of the trick or treaters to enter.

"Calm down Zero," Sally said, peering around the corner, "It's only me."

Zero relaxed when he saw it was Sally, and the fact that she brought no one with her.

The rag doll stepped over the small ghost dog, and lightly knocked on the door.

"Come in," The doctor called in a shrill but also tired voice. Not that Sally was surprised, it was about 4:30 in the morning.

Sally genitally entered the room, with Zero close behind.

"Hi Jack," Sally said sweetly, noticing her beloved sitting up from the operating table.

The pumpkin king gave him girlfriend a weak smile, "Hi Sally," He said in a tired voice, honestly Jack was completely worn out. Having a massive cast on his left leg to haul around for a week certainly wasn't how he thought this night was going to go.

Sally glanced at Jack's new cast, it was a terrible looking thing, poor Jack, he didn't deserve this.

"How long does the cast have to stay on?" Sally asked shyly, turning to her creator.

The doctor turned his chair to face her, "Just for about a week my dear, I will remove it the same day I can take this ridiculous neck brace off."

The rag doll gave him a small smile, at least Jack wouldn't have to hobble around for too long.

"Are the kids asleep?" Jack yawned.

Zero growled under his breath. Curse those miserable children for what they had done!

"They just fell asleep," Sally stammered, "They were pretty upset over what had happened though."

The doctor piped up, "Well they certainty should be."

The pumpkin king let out a huge yawn, grabbing a hold of his new crunches and getting up, "If you don't mind Sally darling I'd prefer to discuss this tomorrow, or I mean later today, I'm exhausted." He turned to the doctor, "We wouldn't be imposing if we stayed, would we doctor?"

The doctors face lite up, "Not at all my dear boy! I'll show you and Sally too your rooms!"

Later that day the trick or treaters woke up around Lunchtime, but neither one of them dared to leave the room.

Barrel was still extremely lost on what even happened last night, he was asleep in his bed, then the next minutes he was outside in the pouring rain? He thought he deserved an explanation as to why.

"Why did you two not wake me up?" Barrel asked, sitting in the centre of the bed.

Lock turned to him from the window he was mindlessly looking at, "If we told you, would you have even went with us?" The devil asked weakly.

"No," Barrel said plainly. Why would he have left the comforts of a bed to go any where's in the pouring ran with them?

Shock was sitting in the corner of the room, with her arms crossed, glancing in Barrels direction. Even he was smarter than her now.

"It was a stupid plan," She muttered, disgusted that she even went along with it.

Lock sighed, stepping away from the window, "Look guys, it was my idea so I'm going to take the blame for it." After hearing the snap of Jack's leg last night, Lock came to the realization that he was never going to be allowed back in his tree house ever again, so why let the other two suffer?

"I went along with it," Shock mumbled, "It's just as much my fault as it is yours."

"Yeah," Lock sighed, turning back to the window, unsure on what to say.

"Do you think we're going to be in a lot of trouble?" Barrel asked.

Lock and Shock both stared at their youngest friend grimly. No way was either of them letting Barrel be punished for this. He had nothing to do with any of it!

"You're not taking the heat for this!" Lock growled, frustrated that Barrel would even think that he might be in trouble.

"This is mine and Locks problem, not yours!" Shock snarled, just as annoyed as Lock.

Barrel blinked out of confession, any other time it was always him that got blamed for stuff. Course those times there were never any consequences until now. He never knew Lock and Shock actually cared that much.

"We're supposed to be three of a kind though, remember?" Barrel pointed out, feeling guilty if he was the only one not punished. Even though it wasn't his fault, it just didn't seem right.

"Not this time pipsqueak," Lock hissed.

Shock turned and for the first time in forever, nodded in agreement to what the devil had said.

Barrels eyes flickered back and forth from his friends, unsure on what to even say. There really wasn't anything to say, there was never any changing Lock or Shocks minds.

There was a soft knock on the door, with a soft voice to match.

"If you three are awake, we can start walking back to the manor," Sally said genitally.

Fifteen minutes later the trio got dressed and followed Sally back to Jack's home. All three had the same question, but it was only halfway home when Lock became brave enough to ask.

"Where's Jack?" The young devil asked, trying not to sound nervous. Was the pumpkin king in worse shape, then they had thought?

Sally turned to the child with a small smile, "The doctor just wanted to double-check to make sure Jack's leg doesn't need anymore glue, he's going to drive him home later."

"Oh," Lock mumbled.

It fell silent once again, so Sally decided to speak up.

"I have some movies at the house, if you three wanted to watch one after lunch," She turned and looked at the trio, but they just shook their heads, "How about you three draw for a bit, you enjoyed it last time" Sally suggested brightly, but again the ex boogie boys shook their heads.

"When we get home, can we just go upstairs? Please." Barrel asked.

The rag doll nodded, "Of course you can."

Once Sally and the ex boogie boys made it back to the house, the trio rushed upstairs (without wiping their feet) And retreated to Shock's bedroom.

After Sally heard the door close, the rag doll just sighed. She knew they felt guilty, and she also knew that they thought Jack had hated them and they were really going to be in trouble now. Sally really didn't know how to figure things out so everybody could live together and be happy and not run away or get hurt, or things broken, but somehow, someway everyone had to be on the same page.

Sally made up some sandwiches, and placed them on a tray with some cookies, she went upstairs lightly knocked on the door, "Lunch," She said in a soft voice, before turning to go back downstairs. If they wanted to have their space the rag doll could respect that.

Soon Jack and Zero had arrived home. It was just too strange to see Jack hobbling around in crutches, the rag doll still couldn't figure out how he got up all those stairs to the front door, and when she asked Jack just replied with, 'For me to know, and you to find out'.

"Their pretty shaken up over what happened Jack," Sally said, setting Jacks sandwich in front of him.

The pumpkin king nodded, "It was terrible weather out there."

Sally took a seat across the table, "I think they are more upset and worried over what had happened to you."

The master of fright sighed, "Well what's done is done I suppose, there is no point on feeling guilty because of something unchangeable."

"I think, they think that they are in some pretty hot water with you Jack," Sally said honestly.

The pumpkin king sighed again, unsure on what to think, after almost having a panic attack over Lock, Shock, and Barrel running off, seeing Shock almost get crushed by a tree, then snapping his leg in half and gluing it back on, the thought of how Jack was going to punish them wasn't the first thing on his priority list.

"Well, what do you think Sally?"

The rag doll shrugged, "Remember last night when we talked about how we felt? And how we were both finally honest with one another. Maybe we have to get them to open up too, so they can express how they feel, and why they ran away and what we can all do together to fix this, so we can all be on the same page. I mean it can't be you and me working against them all the time. I don't want that, and I know you don't want that."

"I think that's a fantastic idea!" Jack praised, with now the widest smile on his bony face.

After Jack finished his lunch, and the couple washed the dishes, and put them away. Once that was done Sally went upstairs and asked the ex boogie boys to meet them downstairs in ten minutes to have a house meeting.

Lock, Shock, and Barrel were terrified walking downstairs, they were in trouble, they just knew they were going to be double dead, if that was even possible. Barrel guessed Jack was going to ban them from the tree house for an afterlife time, while Shock believed they would be banned from the tree house for an afterlife time, thrown out of Jack and Sally's home, and banned from trick or treating forever, but Locks vision on how things were going to go was the most different, he assumed Jack would beat them until they remembered what their lives were like before they were even dead.

The trio nervously piled in the living room, right away noticing Jack in the armchair in the corner, resting his broken leg on the coffee table. The ex boogie boys were mortified at how large the cast really was. It was just barely below the pumpkin kings kneecap.

Sally sat on the love seat beside Jack, "Please take a seat," She said warmly gesturing for the trio to take a seat on the couch that was across from the couple.

Reluctantly the ex boogie boys took a seat, Shock sat towards the right, Barrel in the middle, and Lock to the left.

Jack had opened his mouth to speak, but Lock beat him to it.

"It was my fault what happened!" He shouted in a panic, to get his words out before hearing the punishment, "It was all my idea!"

"It was my fault too!" Shock admitted, "I went along with his idea."

"We didn't tell Barrel though," Lock added on.

Shock nodded in agreement, "We just put him in the bathtub while he was still sleeping, then we took off."

"So it really was no Barrels fault at all," Lock said finally.

The two oldest ex boogie boys sighed, staring down at the floor.

Jack eyed the three on the couch, a little surprised with such a confession from them, he did not expect that whatsoever, but he was happy the older two fessed up.

"Why thank you for that," The pumpkin king said softly. It was quite for a moment, so Jack continued, "I think all of us have some problems here that need to be worked out."

Shock swallowed hard, she was right, they were going to be kicked out and be homeless. They really blew it this time, no more chances.

Barrel also quivered with fear, "Are you going to kick us out?" The child asked nervously, Barrel didn't want to leave, he liked it here!

Jack chuckled, "No, of course not, why on earth would we do that?"

"We promised the three of you a place to stay, didn't we?" Sally said brightly, giving the trio a warm smile.

Shock pointed at the master of frights new cast, "That wasn't in the conditions."

"Shock," The pumpkin king said, trying to level with the girl, "This," He pointed to the cast, "Is absolutely nothing compared to what had almost happened too you. I'm happy to have this big cast if it meant protecting you, or Lock, or Barrel."

"You wouldn't be wearing a cast if we didn't run off," Shock muttered with guilt.

Jack folded his hands together, "Well that's why me and Sally thought we should have this meeting. You see, there is obviously something here that isn't working, and we need the three of you to tell us what's wrong."

Lock raised an eyebrow, "What do you mean?"

Sally spoke up, "What Jack is trying to say is, we don't feel like the three of you are completely happy here, so we want to know what would make you happy and more comfortable here," Her voice was as sweet and kind as ever.

"I mean," Jack explained, "There has to be a legitimate reason as to why you ran off," He paused for a moment, raising and eyebrow, "Actually let's start with that, why did you two run off?

The two oldest ex boogie boys fell silent, they couldn't tell Jack and Sally why they ran off! They would get really mad then!

Lock and Shock just stared at the floor, refusing to answer the question.

The pumpkin king looked at them carefully, but then decided to ask another question, "Okay, we'll leave that one for later, why did you three run away the first time and trash town hall?"

All three fell quiet once again.

"There has to be a reason," Sally said softly, "You're not in trouble, we just want to know so we can help."

"How would that be helping?" Lock asked defensively, deciding just now he thought this entire meeting was stupid.

Sally smiled lightly, "Because if we know why, then for next time we can fix it so it doesn't happen again."

"Nothing needs to be fixed," Lock muttered stubbornly, crossing his arms.

"Then why did you take off twice?" Jack asked.

"Because I wanted too," Lock grumbled.

"That isn't an answer," The pumpkin king replied. He was through with giving in to Lock's stubborn attitude.

"It's my answer," Lock said firmly, glaring up at Jack.

"We're not here to argue with the three of you, honest," Jack said calmly, "I just want to know why you keep running away and causing trouble, please."

"You're just like the mayor," Lock growled.

Jack and Sally both looked at one another, then turned to Lock.

"What do you mean?" Sally asked.

The young devil rolled his eyes, "The mayor calls us brats all the time! And you two never say anything about it!"

Shock nodded in agreement, "Like when Lock got sick, he said we were wicked little brats, remember that?"

"He also gives us a lot of dirty looks," Barrel squeaked, shifting uncomfortably in his seat.

"And he's done it ten billion times in the past two!" Lock hissed, while Shock and Barrel nodded in agreement.

"And that really bothers the three of you?" Jack asked.

The trio nodded.

"And that's why you destroyed the mayors office?" The pumpkin king asked.

Again three little nods.

"Well I can most certainly speak to the mayor and tell him to stop, and call him out on it when he does say that, if the three of you would like," It was quiet, so Jack spoke up, "You three would like that wouldn't you?"

"Yes," Barrel said, while the two older ex boogie boys just nodded.

Sally spoke up, "Excuse me, sorry. I apologize for asking this, but why did the three of you destroy Jack's office?" The rag doll asked innocently.

After a moment, Barrel looked up at Sally's soft gaze, then flickered his eyes too Jacks, who also looked calm and understanding. The youngest ex boogie boy remembered not really doing anything to the pumpkin kings off, other than spill a pen on the carpet mistakenly, but still. Barrel had remembered what the pumpkin king told him before bed the other night that he only got upset when he thought one or all of the trio might be hurt, or ran away, or in danger. Nobody was any one of those right now, so Barrel couldn't think of a single reason as to why Jack and Sally would be angry from him answering honestly too the simple question they were asking.

"Jack's office was just if we had enough time," Barrel confessed, the other two gave him the death glare, but the child kept going, "And we ran off that day because you two bought as new stuff." The child sighed. It sounded so stupid out loud.

Sally and Jack were completely lost on what Barrel had just told them. Didn't all children enjoy nice new things?

"I'm sorry Barrel," Jack said calmly, "You might have to explain that to me and Sally a little more."

"Well," Barrel stammered. The dirty looks he was getting from his cohorts wasn't helping, "You know how you give a dog a treat after it does a trick?" The child tried to explain it exactly how his friend explained it to him days ago, "And once it gets better at doing the trick you give it less and less treats? Well once the dog masters the trick you stop giving it treats."

Jack and Sally looked even more confused.

"What do you mean?" Jack asked politely.

Shock rolled her eyes, annoyed with what her younger friend had just explained, "What he means," She muttered, "Is that you two are just trying to control us, by buying us things."

Barrel shyly nodded in agreement, "That's why we did what we did."

"And that's why me and Lock ran off the second time," Shock added, with a sigh of almost defeat.

Jack and Sally were completely lost. How was that trying to control them? If that is how they felt than there had to be a reason, but why? And how?

"Well," Jack said softly, "What makes you feel like we're trying to control you?"

"All the new stuff," Lock spat, which was actually a surprise to hear him finally speak up.

"The meals," Shock murmured.

"And being freakishly nice all the time." Lock grumbled, "It's all just a ploy."

Jack calmly lifted a finger so he could speak, "It most certainly is not a ploy for anything, I assure you," He said reassuringly, "Me and Sally have said this from day one, we simply want to be your friends, and that is truly what we want," The pumpkin king shook his head, "We don't want to control any of you."

"We like you exactly the way you are," Sally added cheerfully, "Remember what I had said last night? That me and Jack love you and we care, and personally myself I think the three of you have been unfairly neglected from that for quite a while."

That final sentence made the trio cringe, not because it bothered them, but because they never realized how true that statement was. Oogie Boogie wasn't the best role model for them. He terrified the three of them. He wouldn't have cared if the three of them ran off and never came back, let alone put himself in harm's way for one of them.

Shock couldn't help, but repeatedly go over and over in her head why Jack had done what he did, but she had to give him a little bit of respect for it, and just this one time she let her stubborn attitude guard down a bit.

"I won't run away again Jack, Sally. I promise," Shock said sincerely.

"Me neither!" Barrel excitedly said.

Jack and Sally couldn't be happier with hearing that. They were relieved, they just needed one more promise and hopefully they could finally forget all about this running away stuff for good. Their gazes turned to the stubborn devil.

Lock had his arms crossed and refused to make eye contact with anyone. His mind was so filled with thoughts, but nothing he could make any sense off. He looked up at Jack and Sally, and quickly looked away, staring down for a couple more minutes.

"I won't either," He finally mumbled under his breath. He wasn't happy about it, but he was truthful to his words.

Jack smiled brightly. He was so proud of each one of them he couldn't even contain it, "I am so proud of the three of you! Really I am!"

His kind words made the three trick or treaters hearts glow a little bit.

"And I want the three of you to know if anything at all is bothering you, you can always come to me and Sally, we will always listen."

Sally nodded in agreement to Jack's statement, and she could see a little bit of ease in all three of their little faces. Finally, hopefully, things were going to start to change for the better around here.

 **Hope you guys enjoyed chapter 14! Also I had a couple requests to do a chapter on Jacks past life. I'm really sorry, but I honestly don't believe Jack remembers his past life, plus it just doesn't fit with this story. With that said though I am not ruling out the possibility of doing a one shot story on Jack's human life. I'd like to do that for you guys. I also had people ask if I'd write more nightmare before Christmas fanfics, and to answer your guys question, I would love to! I actually have an idea for a sequel for this one, but this story has to be completed before any new stories. Thanks again for the support guys, love you! And happy Sunday!**


	18. Chapter 15

**Okay I bet all my readers hate me for being late on this update! I'm really sorry guys, writers block hit me again, but luckily I got out of it half way through this chapter, which is super frustrating, but I'm powering through it. I do apologies though. Anyways I won't keep any of you. Enjoy Chapter 15!**

 **I don't own anything to do with nightmare before Christmas.**

 _ **Chapter 15**_

The rest of the day was pretty quiet. No one really said a word at suppertime, hours after supper Sally decided to work her gown she was making for the upcoming ball the mayor and Jack were planning, and Jack sat peacefully in the living room resting his leg, and mindlessly reading a book.

The trio went to bed right after supper, still pretty exhausted from the long night they had endured. Jack and Sally were a little surprised how early they went to bed, usually bedtime was a fight. The couple wasn't complaining though, they enjoyed the peace and quiet.

Every now and then Jack would glance away from his book and gaze at his new case. He never had to wear such a thing before, and he never really realized how big of a nuisance wearing a cast was until he had to walk around in those horrid crutches. Once the stupid oversized sock was removed the pumpkin king promised himself he was going to appreciate his legs a lot more.

Jack looked away from his leg and back to the book and sighed, he supposed no more picnics at spiral hill for a little while. What ashamed, there were so many good memoirs there.

Sally looked up, "Something wrong Jack?" She asked sweetly.

"No, not at all my dear," Jack said with a small smile, "How's the dress coming along?"

"Good, very good. I should be finished right in time for the ball."

"It looks absolutely beautiful from over here, I can't wait to see it when it's finished, you will be the prettiest girl there."

Sally couldn't help, but blush, "Why thank you Jack," She said shyly. It was quiet for a moment, so the rag doll spoke up, "Do you think Lock, Shock, and Barrel will want to go to the ball?"

Jack nervously smiled back, still unsure what to do with the three during the ball next week. He didn't want to leave them alone, and hiring a sitter would be impossible, but bringing the trio to a dance with a town full of people that hated them didn't seem like a good idea either.

"When they overheard the idea of a ball they said balls were stupid, and boring," Jack said.

Sally frown, "That's unfortunate, I was planning to pick up some extra fabric to make them some new clothes for the dance. I was really hoping they would want to go."

"Well they might change their minds," Jack said in a hopefully voice.

"I hope so," Sally stammered, "I would have thought for sure Shock would have wanted a new dress to wear, and I could have done her hair up all pretty."

Jack raised and eyebrow, "I don't think she's really into all that stuff Sally."

"She's a little girl Jack," Sally explained, "Of course she is."

"If you could convince her, it might be nice to give her a break from the two boys," Jack chuckled, "I keep telling Lock ladies first, but he doesn't seem to get it."

Sally was about to say something, but was interrupted by a crash of thunder.

It was such a loud crash it also interrupted Shocks sleep from upstairs. She had yet another nightmare about lightning, and the bang of thunder just woke her up at the most terrifying part of the dream, a powerful bolt of lightning was beaming down right at her, and she had nowhere to run.

Now she was lying awake in her room, right away seeing the bright flickers of lightning outside. She began to quiver, would if a bolt of lightning came crashing threw the roof?

The child pulled the covers over her head, absolutely terrified by the thought. She was so tired, but she was just too afraid to go back to sleep. Once again, another lonely frightening night was coming her way...

"Is it thunder and lightning out again?" The rag doll asked turning to the window.

"Looks like it is my dear," Jack said, also gazing out the window, "We've had a lot of thunder and lightning storms this year for some reason, you know sometime we should go outside and watch one."

Sally wagged a finger, "Not with that on," She ordered, pointing at his cast.

"I know, I know, the doctor told me," Jack paused for a moment, "I'm glad we were able to do something outside the house before this happened. Three days indoors was driving me crazy, imagine an entire week."

"I know Jack, but you have to give it time for the glue to set, once it does your leg will be good as new," Sally said in a sympathetic sweet voice.

"I told Barrel I'd teach him how to play go-fish, perhaps I could do that tomorrow." Jack said, looking on the bright side.

"I'm sure he would enjoy that," Sally said cheerfully, it was quiet again, "By the way, Jack, I set up the guest room downstairs for you to stay in, I don't want you walking all the way upstairs with your leg."

"Why thank you dear!" Jack said sincerely, Sally was always so smart and thinking one step ahead, "I really appreciate that!"

The rag doll blushed, "You're welcome," She carefully set her dress aside and yawned, "I think I am going to head to bed, can I bring you anything before bed?"

Jack set his book down and reached for his crutches, "Nothing at all Sally, but thank you for asking. I think I'm just going to go to bed as well."

Sally had walked with Jack to the guest bedroom that was right beside the staircase. Though the rag doll hated that Jack had to wear such a cast, she found it nice walking with someone that walked at her pace, and hobbled around just as much as she did.

Sally flickered on the guest bedrooms light, "I also brought you your pajamas down as well, they are just right on the bed," The rag doll pointed out.

"Fantastic! Thank you ever so much Sally, why you work to hard sometimes." Jack praised.

"You're very welcome-" Sally paused when she noticed her boyfriend giving her that dazed look. A look she has seen a lot recently, but was interrupted every chance the couple attempted to lock lips. There were no interruptions now. Finally, the kiss the couple have been waiting for.

The rag doll stood on her tippy-toes, and Jack hunched down best he could. They both closed their eyes, getting closer and closer, ready to lock lips any moment...

"Creek!"

Jack perked up, opening his eyes, "What was that?" He said looking around.

Sally snapped her eyes open, also hearing the noise, and whirled herself around to find Shock wrapped up in a blanket coming down the stairs.

"Shock," Sally said, a little surprised to see the little girl downstairs, after going to bed hours ago, "Is there something you need?"

Shock poled the blanket around her a little tighter just taking the last step down the stairs. She hadn't expected them to be awake so late to be perfectly honest, "Just, umm," She couldn't tell them the real reason she came downstairs, which was to watch tv in hopes of getting her mind off the lightning, "I just wanted a glass of water.

Sally smiled, turning to the kitchen, "I can get that for you and bring it upstairs, just go back up to bed and I'll be right there."

Shock looked mortified by that idea, no way was she going back up to her room! "No," She said, slowly backing up, "It's okay, I'm not thirsty anymore."

"Then just go back up to bed," Jack said lovingly, "It's late, and I'm sure you're exhausted."

"I'm not tired!" Shock nervously lied.

Jack chuckled, unsure on what to really say, "Well Shock," He attempted to explain, "me and Sally are going to bed, I think you should go back to bed as well."

Shock was about to say something, but was interrupted by the flicker of lightning that lite up the entire hallway from the windows.

Without thinking, out of fear the child crouched in a ball on the stairs, covering her face with the blanket, and shaking with fear.

Sally had rushed to the girls aid, "Shock," The rag doll gasped, knelling down on the step and wrapping an arm around her for comfort, "What's wrong?"

Still hiding under the blanket and shaking the child muffled, "I'm just not tired."

Jack raised and eye socket, not believing that lie whatsoever, something was wrong, and he could almost guess what it was, "You shouldn't be afraid of the thunder and lightning Shock," The pumpkin king said softly, "It's just a spring storm."

Shock pulled the blanket away from her face, "I'm not afraid of thunder!' She growled.

"So you're frightened by the lightning?" Sally suggested calmly.

Shock flinched, which both Jack and Sally noticed, "No," The child finally said. Her answer didn't convince the couple at all.

Jack hopped over to the staircase, set his crutches against the wall, and took a seat beside Shock and Sally on the stairs, "It's okay to be afraid you know," The pumpkin king said sincerely.

"I'm not afraid of anything," Shock growled, with her arms crossed, while refusing to look at both Jack and Sally.

"That's impressive," Sally spoke up, "I'm an adult and I am afraid of quite a few things, like spiders!" The rag doll quivered, "I hate spiders."

"After being shot down from the sky at Christmas, I've been terrified of heights, and falling, I get nightmares all the time because of it," Jack admitted.

Shock glared up at Jack, "You're the master of fright, you're not supposed to be scared of anything."

"Well I am," Jack said, with no shame at all, "Like Sally said. Everyone is scared of something, even you, and there is absolutely nothing to be ashamed off because of it."

Shock looked away, not welling to admit her secret, "Locks not afraid of anything."

Sally couldn't help, but laugh a little at that, "Oh yes he is, he's afraid of taking medicine."

"And he's scared of being kissed, remember?" Jack added with a grin.

"So, you have nightmares?" Shock asked, looking up at Jack.

The master of fright nodded, "Yes of course I do."

Shock flinched, unable to look at Jack and Sally, "I keep having these nightmares about lightning hurting me, and after what happened last night, it's only made things worse," She finally confessed, her gaze still firmly on the floor. She felt like such a moron.

"You shouldn't be afraid of lightning hurting you Shock," Sally said softly, "Lightning only hits the tallest thing it sees, and unless you're standing in a field during a thunder and lightning storm you have nothing to worry about."

"This house is the tallest house in Halloween town, it could hit the manor," Shock pointed out, still refusing to look up.

"I know," Jack spoke up, "So that's why I added lightning rods so that doesn't happen," The pumpkin king reassured, "We are 100% safe here, indoors."

Shock had felt something she hadn't been able to feel for a while now, relief. She was so afraid, but refused to tell anyone why she was so scared. She was so stubborn and refused to admit even she got a little frightened at times. It all seemed so stupid now not to voice her fears. All those sleepless nights, for no reason at all.

Shock looked up at Jack, "Thank you," she said sincerely.

"You're welcome," Jack said calmly, with a warm smile to match.

"Did you still want a glass of water?" Sally asked, getting up. Shock just nodded, "Okay I'll be right back," The rag doll said brightly, walking to the kitchen.

Once Sally was gone, Jack rose from his seat on the steps, and grabbed his crutches.

"Jack," Shock called.

The pumpkin king turned to her, "Yes Shock?"

The child bit her lip, cringing on what she was about to say, "I'm sorry about last night, and your leg," She paused, "You didn't have to save me you know." Shock flinched, gazing back at the floor.

The master of fright smiled, looking down at the child, "It's okay. Everything was just a big misunderstanding, the past is in the past."

"Your leg is still broken," Shock muttered with guilt.

Jack chuckled, "It's not broken, I just have this cast on so the glue will set properly. In a week it'll be good as new, so stop feeling bad because I don't feel bad. I am relieved that you're okay."

"Well I am really sorry," Shock said, finally looking up at him.

"I know you are, and I'm telling you it's okay. I'm fine, you're fine, so please don't feel guilty one bit because everything is good," Jack said, grinning at the child.

Shock couldn't help, but give him a tiny smile back, "Okay," she nodded.

Sally came back from the kitchen with a glass of water, "Is everyone ready to go to bed now?" The rag doll yawned.

"I am," Jack said, also with a yawn.

"Me too," Shock said getting up from her seat on the steps.

...

Sally was just tucking Shock in, and headed the child her water.

"You know," Sally said, as she watched Shock take a sip of water, "You have really pretty hair, did you ever think of braiding it, or curling it, or straightening it?"

Shock just shook her head. She would never admit to anyone that she tried to make it go straight the other day. That was just to embarrassing.

"I could do something with your hair for the ball if you'd like," Sally hinted, hoping Shock would be interested in going to the dance.

"I'm not going to the ball, balls are stupid," Shock said simply.

Sally chuckled, "Why what makes you say that? Have you ever been to a ball before?"

Shock shook her head, "No, but you have to get all dressed up and look fancy. I don't own anything fancy."

"Well would if I make you something fancy, we could go into town tomorrow and you can pick out any material you want for a dress," Sally kindly offered.

Shock shook her head, "No way, Lock and Barrel would make fun of me if I did something that girly."

"They don't have to know," Sally smirked, "They can stay at home with Jack tomorrow, and we can have a day, just you and me."

Shock didn't look sold on the idea so Sally went on to try and convince her, "You must get a little tired of doing things with the boys all day, come on we could have a girl's day."

"I'll think about it," Shock said hesitantly.

Sally smiled, "Okay," she said brightly, slowly getting up from the bed, "Goodnight,"

Shock set her water down and pulled the covers up, "Goodnight," She yawned, before Sally turned off the lights and lightly closed the door.

Right when the door closed, Shock drifted off to sleep.

The next morning Barrel and Jack were sitting at the kitchen table in their usual seats. Jack had kindly taken out the comic part of his paper and gave it Barrel to look at and read before Jack started reading the rest of his paper.

Sally was happily cooking breakfast, humming to herself, enjoying the beautiful and peaceful morning.

Lock stepped into the kitchen, and quickly took Shocks seat.

"Ah-Ah," Jack said looking up from his paper, "That's Shock seat, you sit right here," The pumpkin king said, gesturing to the chair beside him.

"I was here first!" Lock argued.

Jack took a deep breath. It just wouldn't be the morning without a battle with Lock. Even Barrel pecked up from his paper to watch the fight unfold. It was just part of the morning routine.

"It's still her seat, so please just come sit over here," Jack said simply, hoping the boy would make things easy for him.

"Can I at least move my chair back to where it was beside Shock," Lock whined. He hated sitting right beside Jack. He wasn't as amusing as Shock to sit beside.

"No," Jack said plainly.

"Why not?" Lock tested, still refusing to move.

The pumpkin king took a deep breath and set his newspaper down, "Because whenever you and Shock are together you seem to fight."

"Then she can sit beside you today!" Lock pouted, crossing his arms.

The master of fright shook his head, "No, now come sit here please."

"Why do I have to?" Lock growled, narrowing in on Jack.

"Because I asked you to," Jack said simply, pointing to the young devils seat.

"No," Lock finally talked back.

Jack took a deep breath, "Move or go to your room, your choice." Like any fight Lock tried to bring on the pumpkin king refused to argue with him.

"How are you going to do that?" Lock snorted, glancing down at the master of frights cast.

"If I get to three you will find out," Jack said back, trying not to smirk.

Lock just rolled his eyes and pouted.

"One," Jack warned, glancing at the boy, "Two.."

Lock got a whiff of what Sally was cooking. It smelt so good! Course if he was up in his room he wouldn't be allowed to have breakfast, was a seat really worth missing breakfast? He glared up at Jack, who was ready to say three.

The boy rolled his eyes, and jumped down from Shocks chair, "Relax, I'm moving, I'm moving," Lock said storming over to his seat beside Jack, "Happy?" Lock asked, taking a seat and glaring up at the pumpkin king.

Jack smiled down at the child, "Yes I am," He said calmly, picking his paper back up. Honestly he was relieved that counting to three actually worked. Jack really didn't know how he was going to drag Lock up to his room, course he didn't need to know that.

You're a real jerk, you know that Jack," Lock growled, pouting in his seat.

Jack couldn't help, but grin, "Yes I know," He chuckled.

Lock just rolled his eyes, and continued to pout.

Sally turned away from her cooking to look at the boy. Lock was always so cranky in the mornings. He wasn't much of a morning person, but she had to admit it was slightly amusing to listen too.

Shock came stepping into the kitchen, for the first time looking refreshed and awake, "Good morning," She said, almost sounding cheerful, and taking her seat at the table.

"You were in bed long enough, stupid," Lock grumbled.

"Shut up!" Shock barked back.

Lock stuck his tongue out at her, Shock did the same back at him. So much for her cheerful mood.

"Lock, that is noway to treat a lady," Jack said, setting his newspaper down, "And Shock, that's not very ladylike," The pumpkin king said, looking at both of them.

Shock just scowled and put her tongue back in her mouth, crossing her arms.

Lock gave her a devious grin, "Well maybe if she looked and acted like a lady, I'd treat her like one," He mocked.

Barrel even giggled at that comment.

Shock gave a smirking Lock, the death glare. She felt her blood boil, and also felt like she was going to cry at the same time, "Shut up!" She screamed, then jumped down from her chair and raced out of the kitchen and stormed upstairs.

She slammed her bedroom door behind her, and flopped on the bed. She wanted to break into tears. What was wrong with her? She never used to get this upset. That was no excuse though, Lock didn't have to be so mean! For the first time in what felt like forever she was having a good morning, and like always Lock ruined everything!

A couple minutes later there was a light knock at the door, "Shock," Sally said softly, "Can I come in?"

"Doors open," Shock muffled, with her face buried in her pillow.

Sally entered, and softly closed the door behind her, with a plate of eggs and bacon in one hand, "I brought you some breakfast," Sally said with a sweet smile, taking a seat beside the girl.

"I'm not hungry," Shock mumbled.

"Okay," Sally said genitally, setting her plate on the nightstand, "Please don't be upset Shock, Lock didn't mean anything from what he said."

"I'm not upset," Shock lied.

"Then what's going on?" Sally asked calmly.

"I'm just sick of being around him and Barrel all the time," Shock muffled.

"I can understand that," The rag doll said softly. Sally was stuck living with the doctor for years, so if anyone could understand how she was feeling it was her. It gets pretty lonely when you feel like you have no one to tell your feelings too. It was quite clear that Lock and Barrel cared about a Shock, but they weren't the type of friends you could ever really express how your feeling. They just weren't as sensitive or as understanding, they were just too young.

Shock turned around and sat up, "You do?"

Sally nodded, "I really do, I think the boys pick at you so much just because you're a girl, and they can be a little insensitive at times."

"Well was what had said Lock true?" Shock asked, the little girls face looked a little sad, clearly hurt by what her friend had said.

Sally shook her head, "Not true at all, and don't believe him for a moment. You know how cranky and mean he gets in the morning. He called Jack a jerk earlier."

Shock giggled a bit, feeling a lot better about herself, "I guess so."

Sally smiled at Shock, and Shock gave her the tiniest smile back. It warmed Sally's heart to see Shock smile at her. "Did you want some breakfast now?" Sally asked lovingly.

"Sure," Shock muffled shyly as Sally handed her the plate. It was quiet for a moment, when Shock decided to speak up, "I'd like to go shopping with you today," Shock finally decided.

 **I hope everyone enjoyed my newest chapter. Please tell me your thoughts, I love to read them! Also thank you to all the reviews I have gotten, you guys are wonderful. I am going to try to be faster with updates guys, I am super sorry. I haven't forgotten just busy plus writers block. But I'm pumped to do the next chapter! I've wanted to do a girls day kind of chapter for a long time and when I seen you guys asking for it, it made me even more excited! So see everyone in chapter 16!**


	19. Chapter 15 part two

**Hey everyone sorry for the super long update, I've had a lot on my plate this week, I actually just finished school today, yay! And plus this was my longest chapter yet lol editing took a while. Its 3:20 in the morning where I live right now so I'm super tired . I'd like to give a shout out to everyone that has reviewed I love you guys, and I hope everyone enjoys my newest chapter.**

 **I don't own anything to do with Nightmare before Christmas or goosbumps.**

 _ **Chapter 15 part two**_

Meanwhile Jack was in the kitchen lecturing the boys, "It was insensitive and it was mean," The master of fright explained.

"But Jack," Barrel said sheepishly, "I didn't say anything."

"You laughed," The pumpkin king pointed out.

"I didn't think she'd get that mad, I thought it was joke," Barrel said shyly.

"It was a joke," Lock muttered, "She just needs to stop being so sensitive."

Jack eyed Lock, "And maybe you need to start being a little more sensitive," The pumpkin king said in a serous voice.

"Why are you yelling at me?" Lock muttered, while stabbing at his breakfast.

The pumpkin king sighed, "I'm not yelling at you," Jack said calmly, "I just want you to start thinking about other people's feelings before you say something."

"Maybe other people should know it's a joke before acting like a crybaby," Lock snorted.

Barrel giggled at Locks comment.

The pumpkin king shot a glare in Barrels direction, right after getting the stare the youngest trick or treater quickly straightened up. Jack then turned to Lock, "All I am asking is for you to be a little more polite," Jack said in a sharp voice.

"Do want me to be a sissy like you?" Lock blurted, with a smirk. Barrel even had to bite his cheeks so he wouldn't laugh at Locks comment.

Jack closed his eyes for a moment, he was struggling to keep calm. He took a deep breath and counted to three before continuing to try to talk to Lock, "Let me reword your sentence correctly, what I would like from you is to be more of a gentlemen. So instead of the word sissy, correct it with gentlemen."

Lock crossed his arms, "Why do you keep going on about that stupid gentlemen stuff?" He snarled.

"Because I want you to have good manners, and be polite. I want you to be the absolute best you can be when you two get older, and acting like a gentlemen is the key to a lot of success."

"Jack," Sally called, poking her head in the kitchen, "I'm going into town to do some shopping, Shock is going to come with me."

"Okay, have fun," Jack smiled, waving goodbye. He was glad the two girls were going to get sometime together.

Sally smiled, before turning to leave.

"Why would Shock want to go?" Lock snarled, after hearing the front door close.

"She's getting weirder and weirder each day," Barrel mumbled shyly.

"Stupider too," Lock answered back, again Barrel giggled at that comment.

Jack took a deep breath, he didn't want to lose his patience's so he resorted to his final option, "Anymore of that, and I will wash both of your mouths with soap," The pumpkin king said in a more serous voice. He didn't want to threaten them with that, but he wasn't going to put up with them being impolite and rude anymore.

Barrel stopped laughing and nervously looked up at Jack, "What did I do? I never said anything," The child said innocently.

"You laughed," Jack pointed out again, "Your supporting his rude comments, and I'm telling both of you I am through with it. Either be nice or don't say anything at all."

Barrel quickly straightened up. He refused to learn today what a bar of soap tasted like. Lock on the other hand appeared not to be phased by the threat, but he also didn't argue with Jack on how he could even do that in crutches, he didn't want to gamble the possibility of getting a mouthful of soap either.

Jack glanced down at Lock, seeing him stubbornly cross his arms and pout. That was always a good indication that once again the pumpkin king won another battle against the boy. Lock might have just been a child, but it still felt like a miracle every time Jack won. Sometimes it felt good to be the adult...

"So what's your favourite colour?" Sally asked, while walking with Shock.

Shock just shrugged, "I don't know. I don't have a favourite."

Sally smiled, "Well what colour do you think you might want your new dress to be?"

"Not pink," Shock blurted, "I'm so sick of this pink dress!" She said pulling out a loss thread in her old tattered dress.

Sally lightly laughed, "I can understand that." There was a short pause, "I think a dark purple would look very pretty."

Shock thought about it for a moment, trying to picture herself in a different outfit was difficult, "I like purple," The young girl said, remembering her bedroom at Jack's was purple. She looked up at Sally, "What colour is your dress?"

"It's aqua blue."

"Oh," Shock yawned, "Are you finished making it?"

"Almost," Sally smiled, "I should be done tonight, so then I can start on yours."

"Are you going to make Lock and Barrel new clothes?"

"If they want me to, I would love to," Sally said sweetly.

"They don't deserve new clothes," Shock gripped, still clearly hurt over what had happened this morning.

Sally gave her a warm smile, "They're just a little immature Shock," The rag doll explained, "They will grow out of it soon enough."

Shock shot the rag doll a glare, "Do you think I'm immature?" The child asked defensively.

Sally shook her head, "Not at all, you are very mature for your age actually, very intelligent as well, I'm jealous."

Shock struggled to hold back from smiling. No one ever gave her such a compliment, "Well thanks," She said.

It was quite again, so Sally spoke up, "If you go to the ball, do you know how you might want me to do your hair? If of course you want me too."

"I don't know," Shock shrugged, "I've never done my hair before, I just kind of wake up this way."

"You don't brush it?" Sally asked, surprised. How could someone never brush their hair? She knew Shock wasn't much of a girly girl, but still.

"I see all the trouble Lock goes through to comb his hair just so perfectly," Shock explained, remembering how long Lock takes in the morning in the bathroom to get ready. She wanted her hair to look slightly better, but she also didn't want the hassle.

Sally chuckled, "Well you wouldn't have to go to that extent, two braids would only take a couple minutes."

"Are you saying there's something wrong with my hair?" Shock growled defensively, trying not to show how insecure she really was over her hair.

Sally shook her head, "No your hair is beautiful the way it is, I am just trying to suggest something different that's all. Please don't be offended."

Shock stared carefully at the rag dolls face. Her face looked sincere to what she had just said, so Shock decided to just brush it off, "So where are we going?" The ex boogie boy spoke up, changing the subject.

Sally was relieved. The last thing she wanted was to make Shock angry, which at times easy to do, "Bertha has a booth in the market with tons of different material."

"Bertha?" Shock asked raising an eyebrow, who was she?

Sally smiled, "You know Bertha corpse, Ethan's mother."

"Do you mean corpse kid?"

The rag doll nodded, "Yep his mother."

"I hate that kid," Shock spat bitterly.

"Why?"

Shock cringed at the thoughts of the memory, "Once me and Lock, and Barrel were taking a drive through the graveyard in the tub, minding our own business, when that stupid corpse kid wouldn't move quick enough and we ran right into him. The tub still has a giant dent from where it hit him!"

Sally struggled not to grin over such nonsense. It wasn't the fact that Ethan got rammed with the bathtub that was funny that was a horrible thing to happen to anyone. It was the fact Shock was angry with him because she was the one that ran into him that made the story amusing.

"Kid could run a little faster out of the way you'd think," Shock gripped.

Sally had to look away because she couldn't help, but smile for a moment. It was going to be an interesting day to say the least.

Meanwhile Jack was just finishing cleaning up from breakfast. Sally told him not to worry about the dishes and she would do them later, but Jack didn't want her to have work harder, then she already did.

Washing dishes wasn't a terrible challenge at all actually. He got Barrel to bring him a chair over and he set his knee up on it so he could balance without crutches, and also keep off his leg.

Barrel stood on the counter drying the dishes and putting them away. Jack didn't even have to ask the child for his help which was the best part.

Lock of course didn't offer to help, which was no surprise. Instead, he just nagged at Barrel on how he was doing his job wrong.

"Barrel is doing a wonderful job, now cut it out Lock, please," Jack said, handing a dish to the youngest ex boogie boy.

"I'd like to see him do better," Barrel mumbled to himself.

"I don't do women's work," Lock answered back.

Jack took a deep breath before he spoke, "Well Lock, if you lived alone, who would you expect to do the dishes?" The pumpkin king asked turning around, waiting for the boy's answer.

"Whoever would cook for me too, I guess," Lock answered simply.

"And who would that be?" Jack asked, raising an eye socket.

Lock just shrugged, "I don't know."

"That doesn't sound very independent." Jack said, turning back to the sink.

"He isn't," Barrel whispered, "At the tree house me and Shock always had to do the dishes and cook because he doesn't know how."

Jack didn't know out of that sentence made him more worried. The fact Lock didn't know how to wash a dish, or the fact that a five-year old and a seven-year old used to cook for themselves without supervision.

"I am independent," Lock corrected, "I just don't do jobs that girls should be doing."

"Any job that needs to be done, should be done, no matter what gender. There is no such thing as women's work, or men's work. That's just complete and utter nonsense," He turned to the child again, "A smart boy like yourself should know that Lock."

"Smart? He doesn't even know how to dry a dish," Barrel said in a quite voice, Jack struggled not to laugh at his comment.

"That isn't very nice Barrel," Jack whispered back, with a grin, handing him the final dish.

Lock rolled his eyes, with his arms crossed, "Girls wash dishes, and cook, and clean," The child stated, still standing behind his point.

The master of fright drained the water in the sink, "With that kind of attitude and you will never be able to take care of yourself" Jack said, wiping his hand with Barrels drying towel.

"I can look after myself just fine!" Lock snapped stubbornly, jumping up from his seat.

"Then prove it," The pumpkin king tested, while carefully placing Barrel back on the floor, "If you're so independent, try sweeping the kitchen floor all by yourself," Jack said pointing to the broom.

Without question Lock stubbornly marched over to the broom and started sweeping the floor, muttering something to himself.

Jack crossed his arms, with a grin on his face, shaking his head. Lock was willing to do something that made absolutely no sense just to prove his own stubborn point. Oh well, Sally will appreciate the floor being swept when she gets home.

Sally and Shock had just made it to the market area. It was the first time Sally was ever out town with one of the boogie boys, and the rag doll was shocked with all the terrible looks Shock was getting. She was relived that it didn't seem to bother the little girl, but still, how could an entire town hate a child? Even before the trio moved in, Sally can honestly say she never hated the three

"Gee, I've never been shopping here before," Shock said, looking around at all the different booths, not really noticing the dirty looks she was getting.

Sally smiled down at Shock, "It has everything you could possibly need here."

"Does it have candy?" Shock asked, her mouth watering a bit at the thought. She had longed for the taste of nothing but sugar for too long now. The last candy she had was that candy cane Jack had given her, and that was forever ago.

Sally thought for a moment, "I think so," She had to really think, she never came to the market looking for candy, "Terror way sells cotton candy I think." Sally noticed how restless Shock had looked over the conversation, she smiled to herself when an idea popped in her head, "How about after we pick out the material, we can stop by at the clowns booth and I get pick you and Lock and Barrel up some cotton candy, sound good?"

"That would be awesome!" Shock said excitedly. She then noticed maybe she sounded a little too excited, "I mean, umm that would be okay I guess."

Sally just smiled, "Come on, the corpse booth should just be right over there."

Shock followed Sally over to the corpse moms booth. Her eyes lite up with excitement seeing all the different colours and designs that were laid out on the table in front of her. She never saw so many options to pick from, and she could pick whatever one she wanted!

She scanned over all the different colours and choices, flashing her eyes over some silky purple colours, "I like these Sally," She announced, about to touch one of the flashy purple silks.

A sticky, fatty hand smacked Shock hand off the merchandise, "Keep your grubby hands off!" Bertha (Corpse mom) growled.

"Grubby hands?" Shock snarled, whipping her hand on her dress, "Yours feel so disgusting I think I just caught a disease!"

Sally rushed over behind Shock, placing her hands lightly on the girl's shoulders, "Bertha," Sally said sweetly, trying to clear the air, "Me and Shock were just stopping by to pick up some martial," The corpse mom and Shock continued to give one another the death glare, so Sally went on, "Please don't be offended by Shocks comment," The rag doll looked down at the child, who was glaring up at her, "Shock is very hygienic, and goes above and beyond to keep up with her cleanliness, so she feels slightly defensive when people tell her otherwise."

Shock gave Sally a nod of approval, more than pleased that Sally actually stood up for her. Finally.

"You can tell her to be careful," Bertha griped bitterly.

"Oh that won't be necessary Bertha, she is very careful," Sally said softly, with a shy smile to match.

Bertha glared at Shock and Sally for a moment, before finally turning away to tend to other work.

Sally took a deep breath of relief. She hated confrontation, but she remembered how much it upset the trio when no one stood up for them, and Sally wanted to do everything to show Shock that she did sincerely care.

Sally's words to the corpse did not go unnoticed though, Shock had listened to every single word, and she couldn't have been more happy ... Well maybe, if Sally would have told her to go shove it that would have been better, but Shock wasn't disappointed by any means.

"What one did you say you liked?" The rag doll asked.

"Oh yeah," Shock remembered, "I liked these over here," She pointed to the selection of dark purple sulks.

Sally looked them over, "Those are beautiful Shock," The rag doll turned to something else at the table that caught her eye, "Oh did you see the black lace over here?" She asked, picking up the material to show the child.

Shock looked in awe at the beautiful lace, "That is so pretty," She said, completely taken by the stunning cloth, "I like that."

The rag doll smiled to herself. And Jack said she wasn't in to all this stuff, yet Sally never saw Shock look so happy. She couldn't want to go home and tell Jack how wrong he was.

"You know Shock, what we could do, is the top part lace, and the skirt a purple silk that would look beautiful," Her eyes flashed at the selection of crinoline, "And did you want a little bit of puff in the shirt?"

Shock glanced down at the dress she was wearing, and shook her head, "No, I'm sick of wearing a puffy dress, I want something long and straight."

"Oh okay, then how about, we do something that is long and straight, with ruffles with purple silk and lace going down, do you like that? I can sketch it out for you of course though, when we get home."

Shock tried to envision the dress in her mind, it sounded beautiful, but she would have to see a sketch of course, "That sounds like a good idea," She finally said.

"Great!" Sally said brightly, "Which purple silk would you like?"

Shock pointed at one of the darker purple ones, "This one is my favourite."

"Mine too," Sally said, picking up the cloth, "Oh Bertha we're finished," Sally called, walking over to where the corpse mother was, with the two strips of cloth in her hand.

Shock followed Sally, until something bright and sparkly on a shelf caught her eye. Shock stopped to look, while Sally continued to gabbier on about measurements and all that other boarding stuff Shock didn't care about.

Carefully the eldest ex boogie boy picked up and looked at a beautiful box of black and purple beads. They were so pretty, almost prettier then the black lace. She put the box down, after she noticed a selection of glitters beside the beads. As careful as she was with the beads, Shock picked up a bottle of sparkling purple glitter. Oh the glitter was almost as pretty as the beads! No wait, the beads were prettier, or maybe the glitter. Shock picked the box of beads back up to compare which one she thought was better.

Sally turned around, noticing Shock holding the beads and glitter, she smiled to herself before walking over to the girl.

"Those are beautiful," Sally said lightly, looking over Shocks shoulder.

"Yeah," Shock said gazing at them for another second, "They just caught my eye, that's all, I'll put them back," She called, now staring over at Miss Corpses watchful glare.

"No, no, how about, we get those too! I could put them on the dress," Sally suggested.

"Really?" Shock said, gazing up at Sally in almost amazement.

"Of course," Sally nodded happily. Sally knew that Shock never owned a lot of beautiful things, so the rag doll wanted to make sure this dress was the most stunning thing the little girl had ever owned, "Now let's bring them over to cash out," The rag doll smiled.

Shock followed the rag doll excitedly, caring the box and bottle tightly in her arms. She couldn't remember ever feeling this excited and happy in a long time.

Meanwhile Jack was having a little more stressful day then, Sally was. After Lock finished sweeping the floor, his snippy little attitude continued for a while afterwards. Finally, getting the duo settled in the living room with the TV on, Jack was in the kitchen struggling to get around in the crutches to find the deck of cards.

He was digging through the junk drawer, when he overheard some horrible language coming from the living rooms television that got his full attention.

He hobbled in the living room as fast as he could, stepping in front of the television and shutting it off.

"Hey!" Lock snarled from the couch, "We were watching that!"

Jack turned to face the two children on the couch, "I don't care," The pumpkin king stated firmly, "A program like that with that kind of language is not suitable for children, or for anyone else for that matter."

"Oogie Boogie let us watch it," Barrel suggested shyly.

"That helps my point," Jack explained.

"Well we're not children," Lock argued back, attempting to turn the TV back on which failed because Jack was in the way.

"It's not a suitable program for young gentlemen like yourselves," Jack corrected, "And I'm sorry, but the rules are different here then what they were with Oogie."

"You're telling me," Lock said, still continuing to try to turn the TV on, "The rules are never ending here, you could probably write a book on them Jack."

Jack ignored that comment and went on, "Either watch something else, or I unplug the television," The pumpkin king said in a serious stern voice.

Lock snorted, "It's just as easy for us to plug it back in bone brain."

A stone cold displeased look covered the master of frights face, looking right at the older boy.

Barrel had noticed the look, and nudged at Locks arm, "Come on Lock, just watch something else," The younger child tried to encourage, trying to avoid his friend getting in trouble.

Lock rolled his eyes and shoved Barrel off him, "Relax you big baby, what's old bone brained Jack going to do? Kill me with kindness?" The young devil mocked.

For today, Lock had gotten on Jacks last nerve, and with that final comment, the pumpkin king set one crutch against the TV, and quickly hopped over to the couch, grabbing Lock, and with his free arm carrying the young devil to the downstairs bathroom.

"Put me down!" Lock protested, struggling in Jacks firm grasp.

The pumpkin king reached the bathroom, setting Lock on the bathroom counter, beside the sink, "I warned you once already that anymore rude comments and I would wash your mouth with soap," He said firmly, now restraining Lock with the hand he had his crutch under, while reaching for the bar of soap with his free hand.

Lock tried to fight back best he could, but it was useless. Even with a cast, Jack was still much stronger than him. He felt the taste of soap press against his lips, then forcefully in his mouth. It was the worst thing Lock had ever tasted in his life, and he couldn't even spit it out!

Barrel peck inside the bathroom, watching in terror as Jack swished a bar of soap around in Locks mouth, he didn't feel much sympathy for Lock, because well he had it coming, but Barrel did feel relief it was Lock and not him.

"All I ask is for you to be polite, and restrain yourself from saying rude and unnecessary comments, is that so much to ask for?" Jack lectured, while continuing to wash Locks mouth, "And anymore more impolite or rude comments that come from your mouth and I won't hesitate to do this again," He swirled the soap around one more time, before looking right at the child, "Have I made myself perfectly clear?"

Lock nodded frantically, desperately wanting the horrid bar of soap removed from his mouth. Never in his afterlife had he ever experienced something so terribly unpleasant. He'd do almost anything to have the punishment over with.

The pumpkin king removed the bar of soap, "I want to hear you say it," he said sternly, "No more rude or unnecessary comments."

Lock didn't even give it a second thought, "No more rude or unnecessary comments," He vowed.

"I will try harder to be polite and more of a gentlemen," Jack continued.

Lock flinched at that one, but looked up at Jack's serous face and thought it was best to not argue, "I will try harder to be polite and more of a gentlemen," Lock vowed again, with more of a displeased mumble this time.

"Good," Jack said, setting the soap down beside the sink, and placing Lock down on the floor.

The young devil crossed his arms, with his tail whipping back and forth stormed out of the bathroom, quietly muttering something to himself.

Jack had watched him storm off, feeling nothing but guilt over the punishment he just gave the child. He hadn't wanted to, but the boy needed to learn somehow. And for Lock it always seemed as though he always needed to learn the hard way to get the message across. The master of fright didn't want to be mean to him, but he had to learn these things one way or another. Jack could only hope one day Lock would thank him, but he doubted that would ever happen.

Meanwhile Sally and Shock had just finished paying for the material, and were heading over to terror ways cotton candy booth.

"How long will it take to finish the dress?" Shock asked, sounding almost happy and excited.

The rag doll smiled, "Won't take long at all. I might need you for a couple minutes when we get home, so I can get some measurements for the dress."

"You're still going to draw a sketch right?'

Sally nodded, "Yes of course I am, I always need a visual before I start sowing."

Shock nodded in agreement, "Yeah that makes sense."

It was quite for a moment, so Sally spoke up, "Do you know what flavor of cotton candy you're going to get?"

Shock just shrugged, "I don't know, I usually get the blue one. So does Lock and Barrel."

"That sounds simple enough," Sally said brightly, as they approached the booth. They were almost there when a witch started yelling and waving excitedly to speak to the rag doll.

Sally turned to a restless Shock, who clearly looked annoyed having something delay her from getting her cotton candy, "Here," Sally whispered, handing Shock a couple coins, "Go pick out a bag for yourself and Lock and Barrel, I'll be along soon."

"Okay!" Shock said, and without question raced over to the cotton candy booth.

Sally watched her run off with a smile, before turning to speak to the witch.

The terror way clown didn't look pleased at all when he saw the wicked little girl approach, what could she possibility want?

Shock jumped right up to the cash where the clown was standing, "I want three bags of blue cotton candy," the young girl announced proudly.

The clown narrowed in on the child, "You need money to get that," He said rudely.

Shock picked up on his rude tone,"I have money you stupid circus freak," She growled, standing her own ground.

The clown was too shocked to see the money the little girl dropped in his hands to be upset over the fact he just got called a freak, "Coming right up kid," He said, starstruck that the little monster actually had cash.

A minute later terror way had three bags off cotton candy, and handed them to Shock, "There you go kid, have a nice day."

With an arm full of cotton candy, Shock just stuck her nose in the air and walked off, "Whatever," she muttered.

She looked over to see Sally still talking to that dumb old lady. Shock hated that stupid old women, so she decided to look at some other booths, until Sally was done talking.

Ignoring the dirty looks the child was getting Shock decided to look at a book stand booth. She yawned while scanning over all the books. Reading was one of those things Shock never did. Not because she disliked it, but because Lock and Barrel always said reading was boring and lame, so Shock just believed them that it was, but she doubted either one of them even knew how to read.

One novel managed to catch Shock eyes though, "Goosebumps, the mask," She read out loud, if her hands weren't so full she'd pick it up to see what it was about. It looked scary, Shock loved scary

.

"What are you looking at?" Sally asked, looking over Shock, Shock pointed to the book and Sally's face lite up, "Oh goosebumps, Jack told me before that he loved those books as a child!"

"I just thought it looked cool, that's all," Shock said.

"I heard they were good books, too scary for me, but you might enjoy it. If you promise me you'll actually read it, I can buy it for you," Sally said happily.

Shock raised an eyebrow, "Haven't you bought enough stuff for me?"

Sally chuckled, picking up the book and digging threw her pocket for some more money, "No, not at all, I know Skellington manor is kind of boring for someone your age, and there isn't much for you to do all day, so if this brings you a little bit of enjoyment and helps pass the time, I have no problem buying it for you," The rag doll handed a couple dollars to the werewolf, "Is it okay if I put the book in my bag, or did you want to hold on to it?"

Shock nervously laughed, unsure on how to act with Sally's overwhelming nicest, "My arms are kind of full," The child said shyly.

Sally smiled warmly, "No problem, I'll just put it right in the bag with your dress material."

"Thank you," Shock said with a shy and awkward smile.

Her odd little smirk warmed Sally's heart, "You're welcome," Sally said lovely, "Are you ready to go back home?"

Shock nodded, struggling to look up at the rag doll, "Sure," She said in a quiet voice.

After getting out of the market, and away from all the mean and dirty looks, the walk home was actually a lovely walk. It was the perfect spring day, and both Sally and Shock thought the day went a lot better then either one of them expected. Sally couldn't help, but wonder how Jacks had been. She hoped he had just as good as a day as she was having so far. Lock and Barrel couldn't have been that bad, could they?

Sally turned to Shock, "I can't wait to start on your new dress Shock, you're going to be the prettiest girl at the ball."

The little girl's eyes lite up at the rag dolls kind words, "Do you really think so?" She asked, trying her best to contain her glee.

Sally had noticed how happy Shock looked, and gave the child a confidant nod, "I don't think I know."

Shock couldn't contain her happiness anymore, and gave Sally a big smile before turning to look at the path home, her heart beating a little faster then usual. She'd never admit it out loud, but she was actually looking forward to going to the ball now.

Back at home Jack and Barrel were sitting at the kitchen table playing go fish.

"This isn't as fun as poker," Barrel said honestly, looking at his cards.

Jack smiled lightly, "It's better when more people play."

Barrel sighed, "Yeah, to bad Lock has to be so cranky and moody all the time, got any eights?"

"Go fish," Jack said, "And I think Lock just needs some time too himself."

Barrel pecked at his new card, and placed it in his deck, "Yeah, but sometimes he's more of a crybaby, then Shock."

The pumpkin king frown at Barrel, "That isn't a polite thing to say Barrel," Jack corrected. Honestly it felt like he's been beating a dead horse all day.

"Sorry," Barrel said shyly, "I don't mean to be rude, it's just a bad habit I guess."

Jack sighed, "I understand, and I want to work with the three of you on that, any fours?"

Barrel handed Jack his four, "Work on what Jack? Any twos"

"Go fish," The pumpkin king said, "And it's the way you talk to one another, they are your friends after all so why do you three continue to be mean to each other?"

Barrel picked up another card and frowned before putting it in his deck, "Yeah we say mean things, but it's not like we mean anything by it. It's just a joke."

"Shocks feelings were hurt this morning," Jack pointed out.

"I guess so, but it wasn't supposed to make her upset. Lock was just being Lock, and Shock never got that upset before," Barrel explained, "He didn't mean anything by it so I don't understand why she took it to heart so much"

"Well maybe for next time we should be a little more careful on what we say as jokes," Jack said with a light smile.

Barrel nodded in agreement to that. He couldn't make any promises, but he would certainty try. He didn't want a mouthful of soap like Lock had gotten.

Sally and Shock arrived home, and Sally was more than pleased with how nicely swept the floors were. And Barrel ate all his cotton candy in one sitting. While Lock refused to come out of his room, so his candy was left untouched.

Before supper, Sally drew out a picture of Shocks new dress, which Shock loved, and the girls spent the rest of the day in Sally's room for measurements and just chatting, while Barrel tried to talk to Lock, but he refused to open his bedroom door. After the youngest ex boogie boy gave up, him and Jack played go fish a couple more times. It still wasn't as fun as poker, but it did pass the time.

Lock surfaced for supper, but didn't say a single word. Jack and Sally had tried to reason with him during supper, but he just ignored them, and after the meal was finished, he stormed back upstairs, slamming the door behind him.

After supper Shock and Sally went back to Sally's room to work on the dress, while Jack rested his leg in the living room reading a book, while Barrel was drawing a picture with Sally's crayons, which was supposed to be a gift for Lock to cheer him up.

"Where's Zero at anyway?" Barrel asked, looking up from his picture, just noticing how long the dog has been absent for.

"Oh he just wanted to be at the graveyard for a while," Jack slightly lied. The truth was the pumpkin king had really requested he stayed at the graveyard for a while to calm down. He was so snappy the other day, and he didn't want the dog scaring the kids.

"Oh," Barrel said, turning back to his picture.

Jack grinned for a moment, watching him scribble away before continuing with his book.

After Sally tucked Barrel and Shock into bed (Lock still refused to speak or allow anyone in his room) The rag doll returned to working on Shocks gown in her room.

While a restless Jack was sick of looking at the downstairs, and with no Sally around to lecture him to stay off his leg, the pumpkin king hobbled up the stairs in his crutches. He just wanted to make sure everyone was sleeping.

The master of fright first pecked in to Barrels room, to find the child snuggled up in the centre of the bed sleeping peacefully. Jack watched him sleep for a few seconds smiling to himself before quietly closing the door.

He then hobbled his way to Shock's room, genitally opening the door to find her lamp on, and her passed out in a very uncomfortable position.

Jack quietly hoped over to her bedside to find her asleep sitting up with a book in her lap.

He reached to move the book off her, but still not used to his crutches yet, one fell from under his arm, falling to the floor.

Shock slowly wiggled from her sleeping position and blinked her eyes open, "Jack?" She yawned. If she wasn't so tired, she would have demanded to know why the pumpkin king was in her room.

Though never the less Jack felt the need to explain himself, "I just noticed your lamp was on, and I came in to shut it off, I apologize for waking you," He paused, "Though you really shouldn't sleep that way my dear, you will wake up with a horrid back pain if you do."

"Oh," Shock said, wiggling down into the covers.

"That's better," Jack said, now finally moving the book off her, "Your reading goosebumps huh?" He said scanning the book. He hadn't read this novel since he was around Shocks age, "I used to love this book," He said excitedly, flipping through the pages.

"Sally told me when she bought it for me today."

"What page were you on" Jack asked, so he could mark it for her.

"Still one," Shock sighed, "There are too many big words, I had to keep reading it over and over again, but I still don't really understand what I'm reading."

"You know Shock, we could read this together if you'd like, I could read a couple pages, and you could read a couple, I'd help you with all the big words," Jack suggested with a smile, desperately hoping she would agree, after seeing the book, now all the pumpkin king wanted to do was reread his favourite book.

Shock raised an eyebrow, now a little more awake, "You won't make fun of me because I can't read as good as you, will you?"

"Of course not Shock!" Jack said honestly, "Not at all, I just want to help you that's all."

Shock relaxed more, "Then I guess that would okay."

"Wonderful!" Jack said excitedly, "For now though get some sleep, okay?" The pumpkin king said softly, pulling the covers up a bit.

Shock watched as the pumpkin king set his crutch against the nightstand and struggled to pick his other one up, "How long do you have to wear that cast for?" She asked tiredly.

Jack retrieved the crutch before answering, "Just for a week, six days now," While adjusting his crutch under his arm he put a small amount of weight on the foot with the cast. And for a spit second, Shock noticed him cringe.

"Does it hurt?" She asked, after clearly see him cringe.

"No my dear not at all," The master of fright said taking his other crutch. His leg didn't hurt really, it was just the cast was a little tight and uncomfortable.

"It just looked like you got hurt," Shock pointed out, wiggling up from under the covers to sit up.

Jack had gestured for her to lie back down, "I'm not in pain," He said softly, "Now lie down and go to sleep, you need your rest." He smiled lightly at her before turning to leave the room, which turning around with crutches was much harder then one would expect.

"You need to stay off that leg!" Shock called from behind him, still sitting up.

Jack turned to look at her with a calm face, "Shock," He yawned, "I'm an adult, I can look after myself so please there is no need to be concerned over me. I am perfectly fine."

Shock didn't look convinced, and glared at him hesitantly for a couple seconds before finally deciding to snuggle under the covers once again.

"Thank you," Jack said, "I'll see you in the morning, and sweet dreams," He smiled, slowly closing the door.

Once the door was closed Shock wiggled back out of her comfortable position and tossed the covers off. Jack shouldn't be upstairs walking around, was he stupid? Shock thought to herself, he's only going to make it worse. If he wasn't going to listen to Shock, then she knew one person that could make him listen...

The little girl tiptoed out of her bedroom once she knew Jack was out of sight.

Meanwhile Jack hobbled his way to Locks room. He lightly knocked on the door and waited a moment before deciding to open the door slightly.

Right away he noticed the young devil sitting on the side of the bed in the dark crossing his arms.

"What are you doing?" Jack asked, slowly stepping in the room.

"I didn't invite you in," Lock growled back.

Jack lightly closed the door and flickered on the light, "I thought you were sleeping to be honest."

Lock glared over at Jack, "You were going to watch me while I sleep? That's just creepy," The boy snarled.

Jack slowly hobbled over to him, "No I was just checking on you, to make sure you were okay."

"Why wouldn't I be okay?" Lock hissed.

The master of fright just shrugged, "I don't know why, that's why I checked."

Lock just turned away and growled to himself, unsure on what to even say to Jacks simple answer. Couldn't Lock just be left a lone? Jack was the last person he wanted to see.

"Just go away," The young devil growled refusing to look at the pumpkin king.

Jack stood in front of the stubborn child and just stared at him for a second. There had to be some way to reason with him, but Jack couldn't figure out for the life of him how to do that.

"I apologize for that little incident that happened today," Jack said sincerely, hoping that would be enough to get through to Lock.

Lock looked up at him, "Is that all you have to say?"

The master of fright nodded.

"Good, now get out," Lock snarled pointing to the door.

Jack opened his mouth to try to talk to him, but Lock just cut him off, "I said get out," Lock said again in a serous voice.

The pumpkin king sighed, maybe one day he would be able to get through to Lock, but he knew he wasn't going to be able to do it tonight, he was too angry with him tonight. Hopefully the boy would be in a more reasonable mood tomorrow, course Jack couldn't remember when Lock ever was in a slightly more reasonable mood.

The master of fright turned back to the door, "Did you want the light off?" He asked.

"Yes," Lock muttered back.

Jack flicked the light off, "Well have a good sleep," He called before stepping out the room and quietly shutting the door. He took a deep breath and looked up, when he looked up though he saw something far scarier than himself.

Sally had her arms crossed taping her foot and with one of the coldest stares Jack had ever gotten from anyone, let alone Sally. He was in trouble now...

 **I hope everyone enjoy it, I got a lot of great idea's for this chapter and I am sorry if I didn't get yours, I do read all reviews, its just this chapter was crazy long as it is, I haven't forgotten about your suggested, they just didn't work in this chapter. Sorry! Also I have gotten people asking for a chapter with zero and Jack. To be straight with you guys, I'm not adding that in this story, I do apologize. It just don't fit in this story, and plus this story isn't going to go on forever and it just feels like a unneeded chapter in this particular story. With that said though I do have plans and a idea for a squeal to this and I think a Jack and Zero bonding time would fit in perfectly with the plot I have planned for the story after this. So I really want this chapter and plan to write the chapter, just not in this story. Sorry guys. I hope everyone has a great Easter, and see you all in chapter 16! :)**


	20. Chapter 16

**I am go sorry I am late updating this, I know all my readers probably hate me, which I understand. I have no excuse for why I am so late updating this. I had no idea where I was really going with this chapter, I just knew the start of it, and where I wanted to end, I didn't plan the middle part, just kind of went with it lol. This chapter was the chapter I would leave and randomly pick up again and work on it bit by bit. But it is finally here and I hope you guys enjoy it. Thank you for all the wonderful reviews on my last chapter, I love them! Reviews inspire me!**

 **I don't owe anything to do with Nightmare Before Christmas, Barbie, Hello kitty, Frozen, Or star wars (Don't ask lol)**

 _ **Chapter 16**_

Even Sandy Claus didn't scold Jack nearly as much as Sally did after Shock had informed the rag doll the pumpkin king had been stepping around upstairs. Sally couldn't understand Jack, the doctor had instructed him to take it easy, and he goes walking upstairs like his leg never snapped in half? Sometimes Jack was the most frustrating person in the world. Honestly, how many times has he warned the trick or treaters to be carefully, yet that's the example he sets! Sally wasn't one to get angry or speak up, but when it came to her loved ones health and will-being she had no problem taking a strip of someone, including Jack.

Still annoyed with last night Sally violently stirred her pancake mix for breakfast, while Jack sat at his usual seat awkwardly, picking up on the tension in the room. He couldn't understand why she was so upset with him, honestly, he wasn't a child. He knew how to look after himself, with or without a cast.

He shifted in his chair a bit. Instantly Sally snapped her head around to see what her boyfriend was doing.

Jack picked up on the look, "Just trying to get comfortable," He called to his girlfriend.

"Good," Sally said, turning back to her cooking, "I want you to stay comfortable all day. No moving around," She ordered firmly.

"Well I might need to stop by town hall," The pumpkin king said sheepishly.

Sally turned back around to her boyfriend with the worst glare Jack had ever seen, "You're not going today."

"Sally, I have no idea what Shock had told you, but I will tell you the same thing I told her, my leg doesn't hurt, the cast is just a little tight at times," The master of fright explained.

"It was probably tight from swelling because you were up moving around too much," The rag doll answered back sharply.

She did have an excellent point, but he still had to go to town hall, "Sally please, you let me be the one to worry. I'm fine really."

"You don't worry enough about yourself Jack, that's the problem," The rag doll fired back, "If it was me walking around in a cast, would you let me be walking around all willynilly?"

The pumpkin king shifted in his chair uncomfortably, "Well no," He said shyly, "But I wasn't walking around all willynilly, I was checking on the kids."

Sally raised an eyebrow, "So what, you don't think I can tuck them in properly, or something?" She asked defensively.

Jack cursed himself for what he just said, "No Sally it isn't that at all," The pumpkin tried to explain, "It's just, I-," He gazed in to Sally sharp angry eyes, he was in hot water before, now he was in boiling, "I like to check on them that's all, it has nothing to do with you, honest."

Sally scowled "You know you have to stay off your leg as much as possible, I told you that. You never listen to me Jack."

"I'll listen for now on Sally," Jack said, "I just have to go into town and..."

"You're still not listening!" Sally said in the loudest voice her sweet quiet voice would go.

Jack slouched at the table, "And your not listening to me either," He said starting to get frustrated, "I keep telling you I am fine."

"And I keep telling you to take it easy," Sally snapped back.

"I am!" Jack said, raising his voice slightly.

"No you're not," Sally argued back.

"Why are you fighting?" A little voice in the doorway asked.

Both adults snapped their attention to the child in the doorway. Both feelings slightly embarrassed that Barrel had overheard them arguing.

"We're not fighting," Sally stammered, turning back to her cooking.

"Then why were you yelling?" The youngest ex boogie boy asked, taking his usual seat at the table.

Jack and Sally hadn't realized they both had their voices raised. Oops.

"We didn't mean to yell," Jack explained, unsure on what else to say.

"Are you two mad?" Barrel asked innocently.

"No, not at all," Jack lied.

"We were just talking," Sally added on, turning to look at the little boy, "Nobody is mad."

Barrel stared at them both carefully, still not convinced, but he decided to drop it, "Okay," He said hesitantly.

Shock came skipping into the kitchen, looking refreshed and well rested.

"Where's Lock?" Barrel asked, while Shock took a seat.

"Upstairs playing with his hair."

Barrel snickered, "What a girl."

The pumpkin king shot a glare in Barrels direction, "Barrel," He warned.

Barrel shifted uncomfortably in his seat, "Sorry Jack," He said sheepishly.

"What did he do?" Shock asked.

"He called Lock a name, and I don't like that. I want us to all work harder to be nicer," The pumpkin king explained.

Shock raised an eyebrow, "Well you're one to talk Jack, you're the one that made Lock eat soap yesterday, he told me all about it."

The master of fright could feel Sally's eyes giving him a icy stare, he just couldn't win this morning, "I didn't make Lock eat soap," The pumpkin king helplessly explained.

Shock nodded, "Yes you did, you put one crutch down and picked Lock up and carried him too the bathroom and put a bar of soap in his mouth, I even asked Barrel and he told me it was true."

Sally leaned against the counter with her arms crossed, "You did what Jack?" The rag doll asked, raising an eyebrow.

The pumpkin king took a deep breath, "Can we talk about this later," He eyed Shock and Barrel, he didn't want to talk about this around them, "Please."

Sally also looked over at Shock and Barrel, realizing maybe her emotions got the best of her. She would definitely grill Jack about him not using both his crutches that the doctor clearly stated both crutches had to be used, but here in front of two kids wasn't the place.

She nodded, and returned once more to cooking breakfast.

"Are you fighting again?" Barrel asked.

"We weren't fighting to begin with," Jack lied once again.

"What are you fighting about?" Shock asked.

"I already said, we're not fighting," The pumpkin king lied again.

"Ladies and gentlemen, aren't supposed to fight," A mocking voice said, taking his usual seat beside Jack, "Maybe you should practice what you preach Jack."

Jack turned to Lock, "Me and Sally are not fighting," The pumpkin king repeated.

"So what was going on outside my bedroom door last night? Sounded like fighting to me," Lock said with a small smirk.

"Look," Jack said, now helplessly trying to explain, "Me and Sally are not fighting, we're just having a small disagreement."

"Do you still love each other?" Barrel asked nervously. For some reason, a couple breaking up like Jack and Sally, was very alarming too Barrel. He didn't know why, perhaps in his human life people close to him informed him before that they didn't love one another anymore, but he couldn't remember.

Jack frowned, "Of course we do, I love Sally very much."

Sally turned away from her cooking again, "That's why we're having this little disagreement because I love him so much and I feel like he isn't looking after himself enough, and I don't want to see him get hurt."

"That's a pretty stupid reason to fight," Lock muttered to himself, not really caring either way.

Sally and Jack both looked at each other for a moment, even though Lock didn't really mean anything with what he said, he had a point. A very good point. It was a stupid fight, and it was a waste of time. Sally was only upset because she was concerned and she cared, and there should never be any reason to fight with someone who loved you that much.

"I think I am going to stay home today," Jack announced, gazing at his girlfriend.

Sally had given him a smile with a small nod. She knew it was his secret way of apologizing.

After breakfast, Jack sat at the kitchen table with his papers, and plans for next Halloween. He took so many days off work he couldn't afford to waste anymore time planning the event, the mayor would have a fit if he knew how behind the pumpkin king really was.

Course Jack never realized how hard it would be to concentrate with three kids running around.

Sally was busy upstairs working on Shocks dress, and after being warned not to watch anything inappropriate on TV the trio found themselves very board.

Barrel sat beside Jack in the kitchen for a while, "I'm bored," He complained with his head in his hands, and elbows on the table.

Jack continued to work away, "Then do something," He suggested dryly, still trying to work.

"There's nothing to do," He looked up at Jack with hopeful eyes, "Will you play a game with me?"

Jack flipped through papers, "I wish I could, but I can't, I'm busy Barrel," He explained.

"Busy doing what?" The youngest ex boogie boy whined.

"I'm busy planning for next Halloween, I have a lot of work to do, I'm sure Lock and Shock would play a game with you," Jack suggested, while reading over a document.

"Shocks too smart, and Lock always cheats, plus they're both sore losers," Barrel sighed, placing his chin on the table with a childish pout.

"Did you ask Sally?"

Barrel nodded, "Yes, and she's busy too."

"You will have to do something to occupy yourself because I can't at the moment, I'm sorry, but I have a pile of work to do," Jack said, now reading two different documents at the same time.

"Please," Barrel whined, "Pretty please."

Jack continued to work, ignoring the child. He couldn't afford anymore distractions. It would be easier to do this with the mayor, but the mayor had refused to come back to Jack's house after the incident with Lock puking on him, so Jack had double the work he usually had.

Barrel pouted for a couple more minutes before giving up, and sticking his tongue out at Jack in frustration of being ignored.

"I saw that," Jack said dryly, while writing something down, "Now that you have that out of your system go play," The pumpkin king said calmly. He didn't have time for such childish behaviour.

Barrel jumped down from his chair still annoyed, and stomped out of the room.

Barrel stormed in the living room to find Lock restlessly lying on the couch, and Shock mindlessly watching TV.

"I'm bored," The youngest ex boogie boy announced to his friends, joining them on the couch, "What are you two watching?"

"Some stupid show for babies," Shock sighed.

"Why?" Barrel asked, watching some pink alien and blonde girl on the TV screen.

"Jack changed to this channel and took the remote and locked it in a cupboard because someone kept changing the channel," Shock muttered glaring at Lock, "Now we're just stuck on this baby station thanks to you."

Lock just shrugged, "Well I don't understand what Jack's problem is, we always watched R rated stuff, Oogie Boogie never cared."

"Jack's just cranky today," Barrel pouted, "He's just sitting in the kitchen doing nothing," The youngest child complained.

"Sounds like him," Lock mumbled.

"I'm bored," Barrel sighed.

"We can borrow Jack's cards and play poker," Shock grinned, "That would be fun."

Barrel shook his head, "No I don't want to play with you two."

"Why come?" Lock asked defensively.

Barrel pointed to Lock,"Because you cheat," He then pointed to Shock, "And you're too smart."

Angered by Barrels comment, without thinking Lock shoved his younger friend off the couch.

Barrel fell face first, whacking him nose off the floor. When Lock saw blood on the carpet, was when he realized he made a huge mistake.

"Are you okay?" Lock asked jumping down to his friends aid.

"Get away from me you moron!" Barrel barked back with a hand covering his bloody nose, and his lips quivering.

"Nice going, stupid!" Shock growled back, while hopping off the couch to her youngest friends aid.

"I didn't think he'd get a nosebleed!" Lock said defensively.

"What did you think was going to happen!" Shock yelled back, with an arm around Barrel, who was now crying.

Lock bit his lip and looked at his crying friend. He honestly had no intentions of hurting Barrel, he didn't even think really before he pushed him, he just did what he felt was right at the moment. Ugh! He thought to himself, I really am a moron!

Jack had heard the commotion from the kitchen. It was only when he heard crying that he decided it was important enough to see what was happening, "What is going on-" The pumpkin king froze in the doorway after seeing blood pouring from Barrels nose just as fast as his tears, "What happened?" Jack now demanded, hobbling over to the child.

"I hit my nose against the floor," Barrel bawled, while Jack set his crutches aside and put his handkerchief carefully on the child's nose.

"That must have hurt," The master of fright said sympathetically, while eyeing both Lock and Shock to figure out which one was at fault.

"Am I going to bleed to death?" Barrel asked, still crying.

Jack smiled lightly, still hold the handkerchief at his nose, "No, you will been fine," The pumpkin king reassured, "Just a little nose bleed, I'll get Sally and she'll fix you up. Now keep holding this to your nose and go in the kitchen and sit down," Jack said lovely, gesturing the child to the kitchen.

Minutes later Sally was wiping Barrels face with a towel to clean off the blood. Barrel had stopped crying and was now just sniffling. Jack helped Sally, and waited for a couple minutes after the nose bleed stopped before hobbling into the living room to figure out what really happened.

Lock and Shock were just finishing up scrubbing up the blood on the carpet, which Jack ordered them to do. Both them only agreed because they both felt guilty over their friend getting hurt.

"So what happened?" Jack asked calmly, taking a seat in his usual chair.

"Well it wasn't my fault," Shock muttered glaring at Lock.

The master of fright sternly looked at Lock.

Lock had struggled not to flinch at Jack's firm annoyed look.

The boy spoke up, "He said I cheat when we play a game together, and I got mad and pushed him off the couch, and he hit his face-off the floor" He confessed, "I honestly didn't mean to give him a nosebleed."

Jack appreciated the honestly from Lock, but it still didn't excuse the fact he hurt someone else, "Lock," The pumpkin king said in a calm voice with a frown, "I sincerely appreciate you telling me the truth, but you still hurt him," Lock was ready to argue, so Jack held a finger up, "I know you didn't mean to hurt him, but what did you think was going to happen if you pushed him?"

Lock just uncomfortably shrugged, "I don't know, I didn't really think about it."

Jack sighed, "I'm not mad, I know it was an accident, but please Lock before you do an action think of the consequences afterwards and decided for yourself if it's worth it."

Lock raised an eyebrow, "So I'm not in trouble?"

The pumpkin king shook his head, "No, but I would like it if you apologized to Barrel."

Lock was going to argue why not to apologize, but he couldn't think of a single reason not to because he really was sorry. He took a deep breath and just nodded at Jack's request, "Yeah sure," He mumbled.

"Good," Jack smiled, reaching for his crutches to get up from his seat, "You always were a smart boy."

Locks face didn't show it, but his heart felt a little warmer then usual at Jack's compliment. Compliments always felt so foreign to him, he didn't know why. And he wasn't going to use the excuse of it possibly being because of his past life because he didn't remember any of it any ways and he wasn't going start piecing together something he honestly did not care about, or didn't think he cared about.

Ten minutes later Barrel was all fixed up, and Lock apologized, and with shock of Lock actually apologizing Barrel decided not to hold a grudge. Sally went back upstairs to work on Shocks gown, and Jack returned to his seat in the kitchen to try to get some work done.

Unfortunately for Jack though when he sat down and looked at the work he had written down, instead of having document almost completed, the paper was covered in blood and unreadable instead. Of course, just his luck.

The pumpkin king sighed. There was no point in being angry because it was nobodies fault really. He picked up a blank piece of paper and restarted the document all over again. He really didn't have time for this, but there was nothing else he could do.

A little later the ex boogie boys decided to play hide-and-go-seek. Jack noticed from the corner of his eye socket Shock tip-toe under the kitchen table. She yanked at his pant leg. Jack pulled the tablecloth up to look at her an see what she wanted.

She held a finger to her lips, "Don't tell him I'm under here," She whispered.

Jack gave her a smile and nodded before dropped the tablecloth again and returning to work. He was glad they were playing a quiet game instead of fighting like they usually do.

The pumpkin king took a sip of water, while continuing to work away peacefully. Everything was going great, he was almost done one document, sure he was extremely behind, but at least he was getting somewhere.

He set his cup of water down, and took a moment to appreciate his now finished work. One document done that was better then zero...

"Woof Woof!" A snarling dog roared from under the table.

"Ah!" Shock screamed from under the table.

Before Jack could even comprehend what was going on, the table bumped after Shock screamed and Jack's water spilled all over his finished work.

Jack was in complete shock over what had just happened. 'All my hard work,' he screamed in his head. It took a much small voice to being Jack back to earth.

"My head," Shocks voice whimpered from under the table.

Jack pulled the tablecloth back up, to find Shock with a hand on top of her head, clearly in pain, and Zero growling at her.

Jack took a deep breath before he spoke, "Zero go get Sally," He ordered, it took everything the pumpkin king had to remain calm.

"That stupid dog came out of nowhere's and started barking at me!" Shock whined, "It looked like he was going to bite me!"

"Come here and let me look at your head," Jack said more softly. Obediently Shock got up and removed her hat, "Where does it hurt?" The pumpkin king asked.

"Here," Shock pointed.

As genital as Jack could be he lightly touched the top of the little girls head, to feel a massive throbbing bump, "That must have hurt," Jack said in shock. He didn't know what surprised him more, how big the bump was, or the fact she wasn't even crying over it.

"It hurts really bad," Shock complained.

"I'm sure it does," Jack said sympathetically, "No worries though, Sally will put some ice on it, and the swelling will go down."

"I found you!" Lock called excitedly in the doorway, "I win!"

Shock just glared at him before rolling her eyes, he was such a moron.

Sally was downstairs in a heartbeat, and tended to Shocks head. While Jack was lecturing Zero.

"You can't growl or bark at them Zero," Jack said softly, "They're only children, I appreciate you wanting to protect me, but trust me you have nothing to worry about. So please be nicer to them."

The dog glared at the wicked little girl in Jacks seat at the table, and the terrible two boys in the doorway. The dog then looked up at Jack. It was hard to say no to Jack, even as badly as the dog didn't want to be nice to the trio, if it pleased his master then Zero would do it.

The dog gave the pumpkin king a small, sincere nod.

Jack smiled, "Wonder! I'm very proud of you Zero."

Sally cleaned up the water and put ice on Shocks head until the swelling went down. She also gave the child a Tylenol for her headache before once again returning upstairs to work on Shocks dress.

Jack returned to his spot at the table, starting all over again on this document. At this pace Halloween would never be ready on time.

And in the living room the three ex boogie boys sat around bored once again.

"What are we going to do now?" Barrel asked, sitting on the floor.

Lock shrugged, "I don't know."

"Not hide-and-go-seek," Shock growled, lying on the couch.

"How about tag?" Lock suggested with a devious grin at Shock, "You're it!" He said lightly touching Shocks arms before taking off. Barrel had jumped up from the floor and raced off with his friend.

Shock sat up with a small grin, "That's cheating!" She called before taking off after them.

Beside Jack in the kitchen was Zero, moaning and groan to himself, annoyed over all the noise the ex boogie boys were making. Didn't they know Jack was trying to work?

The pumpkin king smiled down at the little dog, "Don't be like that Zero, they're only having fun. Not bothering me in the slightest."

Zero just rolled his eyes when his master wasn't looking and laid back down.

Jack happily returned to his work. The noise really didn't bother him at all. As long nothing ruined this document he's been working all day on, nothing could bother him, besides he's already written it so many times he didn't even really need to concentrate.

Lock, Shock, and Barrel were now in the entry way area playing tag, Lock was it.

He was just about to touch Barrels shoulder when he heard the worst scream of his life...

" **JACK!"** A shrill yet terribly familiar voice screamed on the other side of the door.

Lock still running turned his attention to where the voice was coming from, which was a huge mistake. Turning his head in one direction, his ankle decided to turn in the opposite direction. A pain like no other jolt through Lock, and it was such a terrible pain he feel crashing to the hardwood floor, scraping his right elbow.

Shock and Barrel immediately stopped when they noticed Lock was on the ground.

"Are you cheating again?" Shock asked hesitantly, carefully eyeing her friend. A classic Lock move would be fake being hurt so someone would run up to see if he was okay, and then he tagged them.

"No you moron," Lock spat in pain, "I twisted my ankle."

"Looks like he scrapped his elbow Shock," Barrel pointed out.

Shock had noticed, still eyeing her friend carefully, "Okay, but I call for a time-out" She decided, walking over to him, with Barrel following.

"What happened this time?" Jack asked, from the doorway, "I came out here to answer the door and someone else gets hurt?" Quickly the pumpkin king rushed over to Lock.

"I'm fine," Lock said stubbornly, trying to wiggle his way to a standing position, but his ankle had hurt so much that out of pain he landed back on the floor.

"You are not fine," Jack corrected softly, setting his crutches against the wall before knelling down to the child to inspect his ankle.

" **KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK!"**

" **JACK!"** The mayors voice whaled.

"Just come in," The pumpkin called, while looking over Locks foot, "Shock, Barrel, would you two go get Sally?"

"Race you!" Barrel called before taking off upstairs, Shock smirked before taking off after him.

"Be careful!" Jack called behind them. He didn't need anymore injuries today. Though he had to admit after today he was getting a lot better at his nursing skills, "Now where exactly does it hurt?" The master of fright asked, taking his focus back to Lock.

Before the boy could answer the front door whipped up, with a overwhelmed mayor standing in the doorway, "Jack!" The Mayor streaked, "You haven't been in your office for days! What happened," The mayors gaze then turned to the cast on his leg, "What did you do to your leg!"

"I was umm, walking a couple of days ago, and I tripped, and unfortunately a tree fell on me, I mean umm my leg, and I broke it," Jack lied nervously, he never was a good liar.

The mayor looked a little confused on the story, "That is unfortunate," He said awkwardly.

Jack cringed, he knew lying was wrong, but like his adoptive mother (when he was a skeleton child) Had told him nothing wrong with a little lie to avoid others feelings, what they don't know won't hurt them. Course as an adult Jack now realizes his adoptive mother was quite the pushover when it came to others feelings, and he always thought such advice was inappropriate for a child, until he became an adult and realized how wise she really was.

Lock had also picked up on Jack's pathetic lie. He did appreciate Jack lying about what really happened to his leg, but he could have done a lot better job defending his story. Honestly, a tree just randomly fell on his leg, come on!

The pumpkin turned his attention back to Lock, "Can you move it?"

"I think so," Lock said, attempting to wiggle his toes.

"Jack!" The mayor screamed, "We don't have time for this! There is a pile of work to be done!"

Jack briefly turned to the mayor, "I know what but-"

"No buts Jack! This Halloween will be a disaster!" The mayor shirked.

"It won't be a disaster-"

"There is so much work, we're running out of time!" The mayor panicked.

"Mayor!" Jack called, trying to get him out of his daze of panic, "I understand your concerns, but at the moment Lock is my number one priority," The mayor was about to speak so Jack went on, "I don't care about anything to do with next Halloween at the moment," He gestured to Lock, "He just twisted his ankle, and I'm more concerned over that."

The mayors face was covered with disbelief, "Don't care about next Halloween?"

"Mayor," Jack said a little more serious, "Please."

The mayor had piped down, and Jack returned to tending to Lock. When Jack wasn't looking Lock stuck his tongue out at the mayor, who in return gave the boy a more than displeased glare. Lock didn't care though. Truthfully he was honoured that the pumpkin said his minor foot injury came before Halloween. Sure his foot hurt and all, but Halloween, wasn't that supposed to be the biggest deal in the entire world? And Locks foot came before that? Really?

Sally had made it downstairs, and carefully with a lot of protest placed Lock on the couch. Jack and Sally tended to Lock. And since Jack wasn't looking, Shock and Barrel made faces at the mayor for their own amusement.

"Just keep the ice to it okay," Sally said softly, placing the bag of ice in the area his ankle hurt the worst.

Jack had just finished cleaning up Locks scrapped elbow, and was now about to put a band aid on, "Do you want hello kitty or barbie?" The master of fright asked playfully.

Lock wasn't amused one bit, "Don't you have normal band aids?" He grumbled.

"Those ugly brown ones? No, they're too plain," Jack said with a wide grin, "How about frozen? Everybody likes frozen."

Lock didn't appreciate Jack's attempt at humour one bit. If looks could kill, Locks glare at the master of fright could have murdered him and brought him back to life to kill him a second time.

"Okay, Okay," Jack said still smiling, "I'll give you a star wars one, that's the best I got." The master of fright ripped open a darth vader band aid and carefully stuck it on the sore spot, "There we go Lock!" Jack said cheerfully, "And may the force be with you."

Sally couldn't help, but chuckle at Jack's attempt at getting Lock to laugh.

Lock was so annoyed that he didn't even bother to ask why Jack, who was a skeleton that can't even bleed had so many band aids.

After Lock was all fixed up, Sally told him it was best for him to stay on couch with his ankle iced, and to just take it easy. He listened to her request only because she promised him, Shock, and Barrel cookies and milk if they all stayed put. Usually Jack and Sally were big supporters in kids running around and playing, but after all the injuries today the couple decided it was best that they keep still. Sally even put in a movie for them to watch, so they could do something that didn't require them to run around so much. And she even moved all her sowing stuff to the living room with them to make sure no one else got hurt.

Jack had returned to the kitchen with the mayor, "I know I am a little behind in my work mayor," The pumpkin king explained, "I have this document here almost done, I just need to sign my name," He picked up his pen, and attempted to write him name, but no ink came out.

"I have a spare pen," The mayor said, handing Jack his pen.

"Thank you," Jack said brightly taking the pen to do the finishing touches and finally have the dreaded write up completed. He clicked the top of the pen, but instead of just the point of the pen coming out, a splatter of ink came out, spilling all over the almost completed document, and ruining all of Jacks hard work. If there was ever a time Jack had thought he was going to completely lose his mind, it was at that very moment...

Later that night, hours after the Mayor had left, Sally returned upstairs because she needed to use the sowing machine, and Jack finally finished that stupid paper that was now barricaded somewhere safe, he was just in the middle of some more paperwork when he felt something tug on his pants.

He looked down to find Shock looking up at him with her book in her hands.

"You forgot about me didn't you?" Shock snarled.

"No not at all Shock," Jack explained tiredly, "I'm just in the middle of a lot of work, and I don't think I'll have time tonight."

Shock narrowed in on Jack, "You said you would, you gave me your word!" She growled.

The pumpkin king looked right at her, he did tell her he would, and Jack always was a man to keep his word, "You're right, you're right," The master of fright said getting up from his chair and taking his crutches, "I'm sorry. Go take a seat in the living room, I'll be right out."

Shock carefully looked at him for a moment before taking off in the living room. She crawled on the couch, coming dangerous close to touching Locks sore foot.

"Could you watch it!" Lock barked.

"Relax you big baby," Shock said back, rolling her eyes.

"It's hard to relax when you're up jumping and running around everywhere," Lock grumbled back, "What do you look so happy about any ways?"

"Jack's going to help me read this, if you must know," Shock answered back.

Lock just snorted.

"You're just jealous because you don't know how to read," Shock growled.

"Well you obviously can't either because you need Jack's help," Lock mocked.

Shock glared at him bitterly for a moment, but that only made Lock smile more. He loved getting under her skin.

Shock had known how much enjoyment Lock was getting from making her mad, and she refused to give him anymore satisfaction. She grinned to herself, "Hey Lock, nice band aid," She mocked back.

His grin was instantly wiped from his face, "Shut up!" He growled, now with his arms crossed and pouting. It didn't help his cranky mood that Barrel who was sitting on the floor, giggled at Shocks comment.

"Shut up pipsqueak!" Lock growled.

"Lock," Jack said, hobbling in the living room with a frown, "Manners please."

"Why do you always yell at me?" Lock asked, while Jack took a seat beside Shock.

"I'm not yelling," Jack said softly.

"Whatever," Lock murmured.

Jack just smiled at the boy for a moment, it was hard to believe someone so young was so moody and cranky all the time.

"Are you ready?" The master of fright asked excitedly, turning his attention to Shock.

"I've been ready," Shock said, handing him the book.

"Ready for what?" Barrel asked, looking up.

"Me and Shock are going to start reading goosebumps, the haunted mask," The pumpkin king showed him the cover of the book, "Did you want to listen?"

Barrel shrugged, "Sure, looks scary." He got up from his seat on the floor and crawled on the couch beside Jack.

Jack opened to the first chapter, "I can read the first page," He suggested.

Shock nodded in agreement.

"Looks like a stupid book," Lock muttered to himself at the end of the couch.

Jack just ignored the boy and started reading, "What are you going to be for Halloween?" Sabrina Mason asked."

Jack and Shock read the chapter, and the pumpkin king had to admit he was pretty impressed by how well Shock could read. Barrel was pretty interested with the story, and even Lock, he would never admit to it, but he even listened in on the story and actually liked it.

 **Hope you guys enjoyed! And okay, I got a lot of confusion over my last chapter of Jack remembering his childhood, allow me to explain, my theory is everyone that dies and enters Halloween town starts out as a child, or a trick or treater because Halloween is completely based on trick or treating, and if adults die and doesn't remember anything they will be too old to trick or treat, and plus they don't remember what Halloween was like for them as kids, and I think everyone deserves to remember some form of childhood. So even if they lived to be 102 years old, when they die and go to Halloween town they start out really young again (like 2 or 3) and the adults teach them about Halloween. So Lock, Shock, and Barrel may or may not have died as children, and they are going to grow. Unlike Jack who stopped growing and getting old because after a certain age people stop growing old in Halloween town. So Jacks adoptive parents are not dead because you can't die if your already dead, they could just be at another cemetery town or world like the one Emily lives in, in the movie corpse bride, but we don't know. They're just absent, and I don't plan on introducing them because I'm not a fan of made up characters in fanfiction so I won't punish you guys with it. Hope this clears things up, sorry for not explaining it in my last chapter. Also if you guys didn't know, the baby show they were watching was Katie and Orbie ;). I'll see you all in chapter 17!**


	21. Chapter 17

**Oh my goodness, firstly I would like to say thank you for all the reviews, and thank you to everyone being so understanding over me being late posting chapters. I really am sorry about this chapter though, but thanks again guys for understanding enjoy!**

 **I don't own anything to do with nightmare before Christmas.**

 _ **Chapter 17**_

A couple days had went by and Jack was finally freed from what he thought was a life sentence from his cast. He never realized how wonderful walking was until being in crutches. The night he had them removed he couldn't stop walking up and down the stairs, just for the simple reason that he could.

Having both his legs back also meant for the first time in over a week he was allowed to leave the house, which was the best part of it all. He loved his home, but he was getting a little stir crazy, and he believed so was everyone else. Lock especially. Jack would swear up and down this previous week that child had more mood swings then a teenage girl, and he was only six years old! Any little thing seemed to set him off, and he was always worse in the morning. And it certainly didn't help when every time he was cranky, Shock and Barrel would instigate and make him more mad. And when Lock and Shock got into a fight there was almost no stopping them. Sure Barrel fought with the two of with, but it was nothing compared to Lock and Shock, and when they did fight they were always at one another throats.

Since he was over a week the trio had cereal, Jack decided they could have that for breakfast, and Sally could take a break from cooking.

Like the time before, the pumpkin set out an empty bowl in front of each child, and poured the cereal and milk himself. While Sally sat in her seat sipping on her tea, watching cheerfully.

Lock had cringed when Jack poured Shocks cereal first. He still didn't understand Jack's stupid rule of ladies first, but he gave up harping at Jack for it because Jack always gave him the same answer every time.

When Shock got served first, she turned and stuck her tongue out at Lock, because she knew perfectly well how much it bugged Lock that he never got served first (other than that one time Sally gave him a piece of chocolate first, but that was forever ago).

Lock who had been drilled the most on all Jack's ladies and gentlemen garbage had learned the best way to win his battles against Shock was to use it to his advantage.

"Jack," Lock said a little to politely, "Maybe I'm mistaken, but isn't it unladylike to stick your tongue out at someone?"

The pumpkin king was now pouring Lock bowl of cereal, "It most certainty is Lock," Jack said, turning to Shock, "Manners please Shock."

Shock had given Lock the coldest stare she had, but Lock wasn't finished.

"I think I deserve an apology," Lock said in a kind voice, even though he was clearly mocking her.

"Really?" Shock said, raising an eyebrow, also using her police voice. Two could play at this game, " Personally myself master Lock, I think a good polite gentlemen like yourself deserves a punch in the throat."

"And I think a lady like yourself deserves a kick in the head!" Lock snarled back, dropping the whole polite voice.

"Well I think you deserve to have your stupid tail run over a hundred times by a truck!" Shock growled back, also dropping the nice voice.

Jack raised a hand, "That is quite enough from both of you," He eyed the two kids, "Threatening to beat one another up is just horrible."

"She started it," Lock pointed out, "I just wanted an apology."

"And I want you to shut up!" Shock growled.

Barrel, who not completely awake yet, and also a little cranky, and only getting more grumpy because he was hungry, but Jack was too busy dealing with Lock and Shocks dumb fighting decided to speak up, "How about both of you shut up so we can eat!" He shouted clearly frustrated. Jack gave the boy a look, and Barrel straightened up a little, "Please," He said sheepishly, lowering in his chair a bit.

"How about you stay out of it pipsqueak!" Lock barked back, not at all phased by any kind of look he'd get from the pumpkin king.

Barrel had now lost all patience's, not caring if Jack got mad at him, "No! You two have to fight every morning and I'm sick of it! If both of you shut you're big stupid mouths that would be great because, then I wouldn't have to listen to it!"

"That's some pretty brave words for a runt!" Shock snarled, "Me and Lock could beat your face in!"

"Yeah with our eyes closed! So maybe you should keep your stupid mouth shut, unless of course you want us to beat your face in!" Lock added.

Barrel just snorted, "I'd like to see you try."

"That's enough of all that!" Jack called, trying to get their attention, "No one is hurting anyone, and I don't want to hear anymore talk like that, is that understood?"

Lock now snorted, "No, and stop being a hypocrite."

The master of fright raised an eye socket, "You will have to explain to me how I'm being a hypocrite."

"Sure," Lock said simply, looking right at him, "You're telling us not to talk about beating each other up, yet you're the one that killed Oogie."

Sally could now feel the tension in the room, "Who wants some hot chocolate?" She asked cheerfully, but everyone ignored her, "I'll make some," She said nervously, rushing over to the stove not wanting to see this battle.

Jack honestly didn't know how to defend himself. Lock was correct, but Jack couldn't really explain it, the circumstances where just different.

"It's just that," He was trying to think of the best way to word it for children to understand, "Oogie was a very bad man, even before the three of you came along he was horrible, and he was warned many times. He put a lot of lives in danger and done a lot of harm to other people, killed some people. He almost killed Sally and Sandy Claus, and he mistreated the three of you, so he would have killed two more people, and abused three more, so my intentions were to save lives, not to simply take a life away. If I could have avoided it I would have, but I wasn't left with any other option."

Shock raised an eyebrow, "If you though we were being abused, why didn't you step in?"

"Yeah," Lock spat bitterly, "You cared more about your girlfriend getting hurt than us, that's the only reason you stepped in."

It was ever more obvious then it ever was before that the ex boogie boys were clearly abused in someway by the boogieman. Which made him feel even more confident in his decision to kill Oogie .

"No not at all actually. I sent you three to get Sandy Claus, and after Christmas was over I planned to go back to your tree house, to ask where you put Sandy, and then I was going to take you from the house completely. Course I found something much worse, so I ended up not having too, but I honestly swear that was my plan, I'll even let you look in my agenda book if you would like because it's all written down."

"Oogie Boogie never abused us," Lock lied, turning away spitefully.

"He was nice to us," Shock lied, adding on to Lock's comment.

Barrel decided not to say anything. He knew the truth, and he wasn't going to defend somebody he never liked in the first place, and he wasn't going to lie to Jack, who he actually liked.

Jack just quietly poured the milk. He didn't want to say more on the subject any ways because he knew it was a sensitive issue, and he truly didn't want to upset them.

It still hit a nerve with both Lock and Shock though, not so much Barrel because Barrel was younger and not exposed to it as long as the other two were. Plus out of all them, Barrel was the first to accept that the boogieman was a bad person, even though he never got it as badly as Lock or Shock did since they were older and felt the need to protect him more they usually always took the abuse for him. That was also probably the reason why Barrel adapted better to Jack and Sally then Lock and Shock did, Barrel didn't experience abuse long enough from an adult to have any kind of resentment or fear of them. He got to be a kid a little more because his friends had done everything in their power to isolate him from bad things.

That was also why Lock and Shock clashed so much, they both cared for one another a lot, and both wanted better for the other. Shock tried to protect Lock because she felt it was her responsibility because she was older, and Lock always tried to protect Shock because she was a girl and he felt like it was his responsibility because he was the oldest boy. The all fought a lot, but they did care for one another, in their own childish, complicated way.

Once Jack poured all the milk, he returned to his seat and picked up his usual morning paper. Barrel was happy to finally have food, and ate like he hadn't eaten in weeks (like usual), Shock ate gracefully, out of the three she was by far the best when it came to table manners. Lock sat at the table pouting with his chin on the table. Which was nothing new. There was always a problem when it came to Lock.

"I hate cereal," Lock spat, "It's disgusting."

Jack kept reading his paper, "You liked it last week," The pumpkin king yawned.

"Just because I was dying of hunger last week," Lock mumbled back.

The master of fright looked up from his paper at the child, "You might die of hunger today then because you're not getting anything else to eat until you eat your cereal, so I'd suggest eating it before it goes soggy," Jack said dryly, returning to his paper. This morning routine was getting old.

" _Woof! Woof!"_

The pumpkin king looked up from his paper again, to find Zero by his feet with his bowl in his mouth, "Hungry?" Jack asked, folding his paper up.

"I feed him last night," Sally called, still working on the hot chocolate, "He doesn't have much food left."

The master of fright rose from his seat, "No problem, I have a bag of food for him in the basement, come along Zero," Jack said brightly, existing out of the kitchen, with Zero floating behind him.

Sally came hobbling over to the kitchen table with three cups of hot chocolate, she set the tray on the table, giving Lock who still had his chin on the table pouting, a small smile.

"I'm not a gentlemen," Sally said cheerfully, "So I don't have to serve ladies first, so I'll give you the first cup of hot chocolate."

"I don't want hot chocolate," Lock grumbled.

The rag doll was a little surprised, she thought being served first would have cheered him up, "Okay," She said sweetly, "Then what do you want?"

He pointed to the mug Jack had beside his paper, "That," He yawned.

Sally raised an eyebrow, "That's coffee Lock, you wouldn't like that."

"He drank it all the time when we lived in the tree house," Shock said, reaching for a cup of hot chocolate, which Sally handed to her.

"Two cream two sugar!" Barrel called happily, "I remember because I always stirred it for him, can I have some hot chocolate?"

The rag doll handed Barrel a mug, then turned and looked at Lock, still a little confused, "I don't think you should drink coffee, coffee is very bad for you Lock."

"Jack drinks it every morning," Lock pointed out, "If he's allowed, then I should be too."

"Coffee will make him less cranky," Shock pointed out, Sally gave Shock a puzzled look, Shock had noticed "I'm being serious, honest."

"Me and Shock always made him coffee at the tree house because it put him in a better mood," Barrel added.

Sally looked hesitantly over at Lock, "I can't," She said nervously, "I'm not trying to be mean Lock, it's just-"

"Coffee," Lock cut in, now sitting up, "And if you give me just one cup, I promise to eat all my cereal," He almost cringed at his final word, "Please."

Sally was a little touched that he said please, and his offer was convincing, "Only this one time, and that's it, and it has to be a small cup" The rag doll offered.

Lock sighed, he supposed once was better then never, "Okay fine."

Reluctantly Sally took his cup of hot chocolate and dumped it out, replaced it with a smaller mug and poured in less than a full cup of coffee, two cream and two sugar, and unwillingly gave it to him.

For the first time in forever Lock actually gave Sally a big smile, "Thanks! And don't worry I won't tell Jack!"

The rag doll gave him a shy smile back, "Just eat your cereal okay?"

Lock nodded before taking a huge drink of his coffee. Ah the taste, it's been way too long. He carefully set the mug down and wolfed down his cereal so he could enjoy the rest of his coffee without the chore of eating in the way.

Jack returned to the kitchen, smiling when he noticed Lock was eating, "I had a tough time finding it in the basement, that's why it took me so long, but I found it!" He said cheerfully, setting it in a cupboard, and opening it up, "Can I see your bowl please Zero?"

Happily the dog let Jack take his empty bowl from his mouth and Jack filled it up, gently setting it on the floor, "There you go buddy," The pumpkin king said cheerfully while closed the cupboard door, "Enjoy!"

Zero quickly gobbled at his food, and Jack returned to his seat at the table, "After breakfast, I thought we could all go in to town."

"Why?" Shock asked, before taking a sip of her hot chocolate.

"I have some work I have to do at town hall today and-"

Barrel frowned, "You have to work again today?"

"Yes," Jack said softly, feeling slightly guilty, "But you three will have fun today. There will be other kids around town hall for you to play with."

"Can't we just stay here with Sally?" Shock suggested.

Sally shook her head, "Some ladies want to talk to me today so I can give them tips for dresses they're making for the ball, sorry."

Barrel crossed his arms and pouted, "I don't like any of the other kids in town, and remember the last time I was in town? I broke everything and people were yelling at me."

"All the people in town are stupid," Shock added on, also pouting.

Jack had just waited a moment, turning to Lock, who was now wolfing down his cup of coffee. Once he set it down the pumpkin king raised an eye socket, "Anything you want to add?" He gestured to the other two that were pouting.

"Nope!" Lock said, sounding refreshed and surprisingly happy.

"No objections to going into town?" The pumpkin king questioned.

Lock shook his head, "Nope!" He said, still sounding happy.

Jack smiled at the boy. He didn't understand the sudden mood change, but he wasn't about to question it. The pumpkin rose once again from his seat, "Excellent, now I would suggest you two stop pouting and have the same attitude Lock has over here. No one in town is stupid, you will have fun, and we're leaving in 15 minutes," He said before leaving the room.

Shock stayed pouting, with her arms crossed, "I think I like cranky morning Lock better," She grumbled.

Sally turned and looked at Lock. She still felt bad for giving him coffee, but she had to admit, he was in a better mood.

The three ex boogie boys trudged behind Jack, Sally, and Zero with their coats and masks on.

"I haven't been to town in forever," Lock pointed out.

"It's still stupid," Shock muttered, clearly forgetting the great time she had in town with Sally a couple days ago.

"I heard that Shock!" Jack called, "And I better not heard the word stupid come out of your mouth again today."

"Better not hear that again today," Shock mocked under her breath, "When did I sign over my right of freedom of speech over to him anyways?"

"You know your miserable attitude is really bringing me down," Lock complained.

"Huh, surprise, you must be rubbing off on me," Shock said back.

"It's about time, gee I never thought the common sense would kick in," Lock said back jokingly.

Shock grinned under her mask, "You're such a moron," She said playfully.

Lock put a finger up to his mask, "Watch what you say kid, you don't want to be the next one eating soap."

Shock rolled her eyes, "You must be talking to Barrel, because I'm not kid."

"I'm not a kid!" Barrel piped up.

Lock laughed, "That isn't a bad thing. You could get away with murder when it comes to old pumpkin king up there just because you're the littlest," He pointed at Shock, "And he goes easy on her because she's a, oh what's the word, a lady."

Shock snorted, "Barrel yes, me no."

Lock grinned under his mask, "Oh yes it is you little liar!" He pointed to himself, "You two should be happy I'm here because I'm the one that takes all the bullets for you when it comes to Jack."

"Oh please," Shock chuckled, "Any time you get in trouble it's your own fault."

"How is it my fault that I was born a boy and apparently always get served last? I mean why am I being punished for being a guy?" He playfully gestured to Barrel, "Me and Barrel for that matter, just because we're men mean we deserve such despicable treatment, and when we argue it, we get threatened to our rooms?"

"It isn't despicable treatment, its manners," Shock answered back, "Stop being so dramatic."

"I am not dramatic," Lock explained with a laugh, "It's wrong to say women belong in the kitchen yet it's perfectly fine to keep the ladies first rule? Why? Because we're guys and we just need to suck it up? If it was my rules, guys would be served first and girls they can fend for themselves!"

"Oh Lock," Shock said sarcastically, "You are going to make a wonderful husband someday."

"Imagine Lock being married," Barrel giggled.

"I think I'm going to have to be a polygamous," Lock noticed Barrel giving him a confused look, "Someone that has more than one wife," He explained.

"Why would you want that?" Barrel asked.

Lock smirked under his mask, "Because all the ladies love me."

Shock just snorted and rolled her eyes. He really was a moron.

When they arrived at town hall, Jack had asked everyone to join him in his office to go over a couple ground rules for the day. Mainly for everyone's safety, he didn't want anymore bloody noses, swollen heads, or twisted ankles today.

Jack sat in his office chair, Lock, Shock, and Barrel took their usual seats, while Sally was against the wall by the door with Zero beside her.

"Now," Jack said folding his fingers into one another, "I would like to go over a couple rules for the day," the trick or treaters all groaned. The pumpkin king gave them a small smile, "Firstly I want the three of you to be careful please. And no removing your jackets if you are outside," He gestured to Lock, "None of you want to get sick, do you?" The trio shook their heads, "Good."

Shock crossed her arms, "Anything else?"

The master of fright nodded, "Stay close where me or Sally can see you," He pointed to his office window, "Or at least hear you."

"We're not babies Jack," Lock muffled.

"I know that," The pumpkin king answered back, "Okay next rule-"

"Are those our slingshots you confiscated from us a couple months ago?" Barrel asked excitedly, pointing to the toys on top of the master of frights fill folder.

Jack turned to look, then turned back to the boy, "Yes they are."

"Can we have them back?" Barrel paused for a moment, "Please," He said shyly.

Jack answered hesitantly, "Yes, but no live targets, and if you hit someone they are going right back on top of my file folder, no buts, or excuses."

"Got it, got it, anything else?" Shock yawned.

"Remember your manners, and be polite," Jack eyed all them, "You are all fine young ladies and gentlemen and I want you to stay that way for the remainder of the day. Remember with every action there is a consequence."

Lock rolled his eyes, "Okay whatever, I already heard that lecture a couple days ago , can we go now?"

Jack eyed him for a moment, before getting up to give them back their slingshots, "You want these back don't you?" The master of fright asked, holding out the toys. Lock nodded, "Then what do you say?" Jack asked.

Lock rolled his eyes again, "Please," He said dryly.

Jack smiled, pleased with that small bit of politeness he handed each child their slingshots back.

"Thanks!" Barrel said. Leaping from his sit about to race out the door.

"Ah-Ah!" Jack called, "If you want to leave what do you say?"

"Can I leave?" The little boy asked puzzled.

Jack shook his head, with a displeased look. Barrel was completely lost on what Jack had wanted. What else was he supposed to say?"

Sally walked over to the boy and whispered in his ear, "Try saying, 'may I be excused."

Barrel turned and whispered in her ear, "Thank you."

Sally smiled, returning to standing straight.

"Jack, may I be...accused?" Barrel asked innocently.

Sally had to cover her mouth from laughing. The poor child had misheard the rag doll.

Even Jack grinned, "You mean excused?" He corrected with a chuckled, "Yes you may."

With that Barrel swung the door open and bolted for outside. Lock and Shock watched him for a second before leaping out of their chairs as well, "Yeah what he said!" They called, chasing after their friend.

Jack smiled to himself watching them take off, "And they thought today was going to be stupid," He grinned getting up from his seat.

Sally stepped towards Jack, "Was the slingshots a good idea though?" The rag doll asked, grinning.

Jack chuckled, "Oh probably not," He said, lightly taking a hold of her hands, "How long do you think it'll be until I have to take them away again?"

Sally smiled at him, "I'm not sure."

" **JACK!"** A familiar voice screamed in the hallway.

"I should go," Sally said shyly, pulling away from Jack. The master of fright pulled her back closer, "Jack," The rag doll blushed.

With his free hand Jack lightly closed his office door, "I just need a moment," He said softly, giving her the sweetest smile.

Sally gazed in his eye sockets, "It won't work Jack, we get interrupted every time," She smirked, trying to hold back from blushing.

Jack put a bony hand on her burning cheeks, he adored seeing her blush, "Then let me try something else," he said charmingly, before leaning in to kiss her forehead. He had his lips pressed against her head for a couple seconds, just enjoying the moment.

When he was done he pulled her away lightly, but kept her cheeks in his hands, gazing right in her eyes, "Now let's try this," he smiled, pressing his lips together to kiss his beloved Sally. Sally had followed his lead, closing her eyes to enjoy the most perfect moment. Their lips were just about to touch...

" **BANG!"**

"Bulls-eye!" Lock called

The master of fright and rag doll snapped out of their romantic gaze once they heard children roar with laughter outside the window.

Lock had managed to knock over the picture frame Jack had on his office wall of him and Sally. He didn't break it, but Jack still wasn't happy.

He dropped his hands off Sally's cheeks and marched over to the window, to find the ex boogie boys still laughing, "What did I say about the slingshots!" The pumpkin king yelled, clearly annoyed.

"You said no live targets!" Shock yelled back with a smirk.

"It's flu season don't you know," Lock called back, "Kissing is a bad idea."

"Remember Jack with every action there's a consequence!" Shock added on, and the trio roared out giggling again.

Jack couldn't help, but be slightly embarrassed, but he didn't let his guard down, "Shoot anything else in my office like that and there will be consequences," He said sternly before turning away from the window. The giggling stopped after that.

Unfortunately Sally had bolted out the door because she was to embarrassed. Jack took a deep breath and sighed. He smiled a tiny bit and shook his head, 'Darn kids,' he thought to himself while kneeling down to pick up the picture and hang it back up.

The mayor came flying in to Jack's office with an arm load of papers, "Jack!" He panicked, "No time for that we have work to do!"

Jack sighed once again, putting the picture back on the wall before walking over to his desk. He loved Halloween, but he hated all the work. Especially on a time-limit.

Zero yawned, floating over to his bed in the back corner of the pumpkin kings office to sleep. It was going to be a long day.

About a half hour later the ex boogie boys were still playing happily outside with their slingshots that they thought for sure they were never going to get back. It was a good morning so far, until Barrel pulled on his slingshot a little to far back, snapping the string.

His big smile soon turn into a wobbly frown, "It's broken," He said in a high-pitched voice, about to cry.

Lock and Shock stopped what they were doing and turned to their friend.

Lock walked over to him and put an arm around him, "Hey don't cry, Sally's pretty crafty, maybe she can fix it."

Barrel wiped his eyes, "You think?"

Shock nodded, "If she can't, Jack probably could," She said optimistically.

With that Barrel turned and ran back in to town hall.

Meanwhile, Sally was in main room of town hall where meetings were held, restlessly trying to answer questions from all the ladies that had showed up needing her help, which was more than she expected. She was showing one lady how to do a special hem, while trying to explain a different hem to someone else. She wasn't use to this much attention and it was getting a little overwhelming.

Barrel ducked and managed to somehow push his way up to Sally. He tugged on her shirt to get her attention.

Sally gazed down and gave Barrel a little smile, despite being stressed out, "Barrel, why do you look so upset?" She asked sweetly, while working on a stitch.

Barrel frowned showing her the damage, "My slingshot broke, can you fix it for me?"

Sally looked at the damage of the toy. It really wouldn't be a difficult fix, someone just needed to tie a knot in the string. She wanted to help, and she could help if she wasn't being hounded with questions while trying to do two or three things at once.

"I'm a little busy at the moment," Sally said softly, "But I'm positive Jack can fix it for you, he's just in his office," Barrel frowned even more than before, again looking like he was going to cry. It shattered Sally's heart to see him that way.

"Hey," Sally whispered, knelling down to his level, ignoring the questions for a second, "Don't be upset," She said sweetly, freeing a hand to lift the boys chin up, "Jack can fix it, cheer up," She gave him a bright smile. Barrel gave her a tiny smile back before going on his way to Jack's office.

Meanwhile Jack was sitting at his deck discussing something that was actually fairly important for next Halloween with the Mayor, who was sitting across from Jack. The pumpkin king flipped through papers trying to find the right document. The work load was much more challenging this year then previous years since Lock, Shock, and Barrel decided to destroy a lot of important papers that they did have done that one morning they ran off, so Jack and the Mayor were stuck starting all over again. Jack was definitely feeling the pressure. It was spring and they had almost nothing for Halloween.

While Jack was reading over a paper, he felt something pull at his pant leg. He ripped himself away from his papers and looked down at a teary-eyed Barrel.

"It's broken," Barrel said in a sad voice, showing the master of fright his toy, "Can you fix it?"

Jack really couldn't afford to waste even a second of his time, but he had decided a long time ago when it came to priorities things like work and Halloween were second, and Sally, Lock, Shock, and Barrel were always first. There was always time for them no matter what.

The pumpkin king picked the child up and placed him on his lap in an attempt to comfort him, "I think I can," Jack said giving Barrel a smile.

Barrel handed over his broken slingshot. Jack stopped with his work and began toying with the toy in an attempt to fix it, he was no expert when it came to fixing things, but he'd give it his best shot.

"Jack!" The Mayor shirked, "What are you doing? We don't have a second to waste!" His worried eyes turned to the smaller figure in Jack's lap, "What is that doing here?" He growled.

"He has a name," Jack spoke up, while still trying to fix the toy.

"A few in my book," The mayor muffled.

Barrel looked up at the mayor giving him the coldest glare he had. He was about to open his mouth and say something back, but Jack beat him to it.

"I think I fixed it," The pumpkin king said, Barrel gazed up at him, "I'll just test it out first to make sure," Jack said politely, taking a pen from his deck and putting it in the slingshot. He aimed right for the mayor and hit him right in the face.

"Ow!" The mayor cried.

"Oh I'm terribly sorry, I suppose my aim isn't as good as I thought," The pumpkin king looked down at Barrel grinning and gave the child a small wink.

Barrel smiled back. He didn't even care that the slingshot was fixed anymore, the best part of it was watching Jack purposely shot the trick or treaters arch enemy in the face.

Carefully Jack placed Barrel back on the floor, and handed him his fixed toy, "Here you are, now run along," The pumpkin king smiled.

"Thanks Jack!" Barrel called before scampering out the door, slamming it behind him.

The mayor just rolled his eyes after watching the boy leave.

Jack leaned back in his chair and smiled, "Oh come on Mayor you can't be that tightly wound, and I have to say I don't appreciate you being rude towards Barrel, Lock, or Shock."

"And I don't appreciate all the misery they put this town through, especially ruining all our documents for Halloween. If they didn't do that we wouldn't be here with all this work."

"I know," Jack said picking up a folder, "But that's in the past, and what's done is done, and they are only children, I see no reason to be impolite to them."

"Jack," The mayor said in a serious voice, "You can defend them all you want, but you're in your third week with them already, and once the mouth is over we both know they are just going to go back to the way they were."

Jack turned away from his work and gazed out the window, watching the trio play outside. He never really realized it until now that his time with the three of them was limited, it was already the start of the third week. It seemed just like yesterday they moved in and Jack ordered them to draw their dream bedrooms, and now it was the third week. The master of frights heart sunk at the thought. Sure it was a lot of work, but he enjoyed their company, even when they were difficult to get along with. He wasn't even ready to start thinking about them leaving. He never really thought about it three weeks ago that he would grow attached to them, but he did, and he was just realizing now they couldn't stay and were going to leave. That was too hard of a pill for Jack to swallow right now.

"Let's just get back to work," Jack murmured looking away from the window and back to a document.

About an hour and a half later the ex boogie boys had a serious problem... They were hungry. With growling stomachs they marched in to town hall to find Sally. She was usually pretty good at solving such a serious matter.

At this point all the ladies that had questions for the rag doll had left for lunch, promising to return in one hour for more assistance. Sally was relieved to finally have a break. Crowds of people all wanting her attention was one thing Sally's shyness never handled very well, but she thought she did an okay job this morning.

"Sally," Shock spoke up once seeing the rag doll, "We're hungry."

"Good timing," Sally smiled back, "I am too, and we're right in time for lunch."

"Whats for lunch?" Lock asked, looking at a pile of fabric on one of the benches in the room.

"I was thinking just takeout," Sally answered back, "The market has some food stands, just order whatever you want," She paused for a moment, "Well meal first, then maybe some candy for after, would you three like that?"

"That would be awesome!" Barrel said excitedly, joining Lock in looking through the pile of cloth.

"Did anyone have a dress similar to mine?" Shock asked, gazing up at Sally.

The rag doll shook her head, "Nope none! Yours is going to be one of a kind I can grantee that."

"What kind of material is Shocks dress made out of?" Barrel asked, now touching every single different material there was to touch in the pile.

Sally walked over to where Barrel was and took a hold of his hand, "Shocks dress is made with this kind of material," She guided his hand genitally over a piece of silk, "And this kind," She said softly now running his hand over a piece of lace.

"Oh pretty," Barrel said in awe.

Lock raised and eyebrow, "How come you're making something for Shock and not us?"

Sally let go of Barrels hand and turned to Lock, "I'm sorry I forgot to ask, but I can make you two something, that's no problem," She said brightly.

"Can you make me a bow-tie with this?" Barrel asked with a grin holding up a sheet of cloth that was red with white poke-a-dots.

"I most certainly can," Sally said cheerfully.

"Can we go eat now?" Shock complained, holding her growling stomach.

Sally smiled, "Why don't you go tell Jack it's lunch time Shock."

Shock shrugged, "Sure," She said turning to go down the hallway. The little girl knocked on Jack's office door a couple times.

"Come in," The pumpkin king said politely.

Shock opened the door, the first thing she saw was the Mayor scowl at her.

"We don't have time for distractions," The Mayor complained, still glaring at the little girl.

Shock had returned his glare with her own glare which was ten times worse. She then looked up at Jack, "Sally told me to come get you because it's lunchtime."

Jack looked at his wristwatch, "So it is," He said raising from his seat, "Come along Zero," He called to the snoozing dog in the corner. Zero snapped his eyes open and obediently floated over beside his beloved master.

The pumpkin king stretched for a second before turning to the Mayor, "Would you like to join us for lunch?" Jack asked pleasantly.

Shock made a face at that idea. That was a terrible idea!

The Mayor continued to glare at Shock, "No," he said coldly, "I don't eat with brats."

Jack walked over to the door placing a hand on each of Shocks shoulders, "Neither do we," The pumpkin king grumbled back, now giving the Mayor a cold stare, "Come along Shock, Zero," Jack said guiding Shock out the door, with Zero close behind. Before Zero left the room, he gave the Mayor a cold glare. He wasn't sure why, he just knew for some reason he upset his master, and if you upset Zero's master then you upset the ghost dog as well.

Jack, Sally, Lock, Shock, and Barrel just finished their greasy, but delicious meals. They were in the food court area at the market, and dangerously close to the cotton candy booth. Sally dug threw her pocket for some money for them each to get a bag, but Jack offered to pay for it, and before Sally could politely argue about Jack already handed them some money and they took off.

"I could have paid for that," Sally said shyly.

The pumpkin shook his head, "No don't be silly, I wanted too."

"Well thank you," The rag doll smiled.

"You're welcome," Jack said quietly, putting, his chin on top of his fist and staring off into space.

"Is something wrong Jack?" Sally asked. He was quiet and staring off all during lunch, like he was deep into thought. He just wasn't himself.

The pumpkin king sighed turning to look at his girlfriend, "I just realized something today."

"What's that?"

The master of fright gestured over to where the trick or treaters were, "We're into our third week with them already, they're going to be leaving soon."

Sally was shocked to here that. Where did the time go? No wonder Jack had looked so upset during lunch. This realization had hurt Sally just as much. What were her and Jack supposed to do after they were gone? She couldn't even remember what they used to do before they moved in. It worried her more than anything, she loved the three of them so much, and she did not know if the feeling was mutual. Would she ever see them again? Would they ever come visit? They never visited before, and were they still viewing this entire mouth as a punishment? Because honestly Sally was enjoying having them. She didn't want them to leave!

After Lunch Jack and Sally returned to their work, both fairly quiet for the remainder of their workday. Around 4 o'clock Lock, Shock, and Barrel became restlessly board, so Jack and Sally decided it was best to just go home because they were also just as restless.

Once home the ex boogie boys went to the living room and curled up on the couch, the three of them were worn out from running around outside all day. It felt good to be back at Skellington manor.

When it was suppertime Lock sat at the table mindlessly jabbing at his food and slowly eating away. His eyes were droopy and tired, and a couple times he almost feel face first in his food from almost falling asleep. The cotton candy was enough to keep him at least awake for a little longer after the coffee started to wear off, but once he got home any bit of caffeine that was in his system was long gone, and he was crashing fast and hard.

Luckily he managed to stay awake for the next chapter of goosebumps (Something he still refused to attempt he actually enjoyed) And without being asked after the story was over, he crawled upstairs, changed, and went to bed.

Right when he crawled underneath the covers, there was a light knock at the door.

"Go away," He muffled tiredly.

The door creaked up anyways, "Lock," Sally whispered, "Are you asleep?"

"Yes," Lock muttered sarcastically, pulling the blankets up more.

Sally came quietly stepping in the room, taking a seat at the end of the bed, "I just wanted to tell you were that you were really good today, and I'm really proud of you, so is Jack," The rag doll praised softly.

"That's nice," Lock yawned, with his eyes shut, trying to sleep.

Sally touched his back lightly, but he immediately jerked away, sitting up, "What's your problem!" Lock hissed, now sitting up with his eyes up.

Sally pulled her hand back, "Sorry," she said in a sincere voice.

Lock laid-back down and pulled the covers up, "Just go," He groaned.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to bother you," The rag doll said shyly, getting up to leave.

Lock wiggled out of his sleeping position and sat back up to look at the rag doll, "You apologize too much," He blurted.

Sally turned to look at him, "Do I?" Lock nodded, "I'm sorry," Sally said again, he gave her a look and right away she realized what she did wrong, "I'm sorry!" She said again, "I'm sorry for being sorry," She said, slightly confused on what she was ever saying.

Lock gave her an unimpressed look, "You said sorry four times in one sentence."

"I know," Sally sighed, "I just can't help it, bad habit I guess."

Lock gave her the tiniest grin, "It's fine," He snorted.

Sally smiled back at him, "Well I just came to say goodnight, and have a good sleep." She got back up and walked over to the door, and was just about to close it when Lock spoke up.

"Sally?"

She turned to look at the boy, "Yes?" She said sweetly.

"You're really nice," Lock said in a sincere voice.

That brightened Sally's heart, "Why thank you Lock, I'm flattered," Which was the truth. Getting a comment from Lock never happened.

"Just saying you could do way better then Jack,"

Sally couldn't help, but grin at that comment, "I'll keep that in mind," She chuckled, "But Jack really does care about you, you know."

"I know, I know," Lock said, rolling his eyes, "But he's mean and you're nice."

The rag doll smiled at the boy, "Well I'll tell Jack to be nicer."

"Please do," Lock called, before flopping back down on the bed, and curling up in a ball.

Sally looked at him for a moment, shaking her head and laughing quietly to herself, "Goodnight," She whispered.

"Goodnight," Lock muffled back.

 **I hope you guys enjoyed chapter 17! In my reviews someone actually suggested I do a chapter where Lock drinks coffee, I loved that idea and just had to add it, so thank you so much for that! That's my favourite part of this chapter, because I feel like we see a little more human side of Lock. Honestly there was a handful of stuff I really wanted to add in this chapter, but it was getting too long, so if you feel at all that this chapter may be lacking something, trust me I feel that way to because there is a bunch of other things this chapter was suppose to have happen that didn't. No worries though, all the stuff that was supposed to happen in chapter 17 is going to happen in 18 and I'm really excited to start it! Also I had people ask me if I ever read goosebumps, to be perfectly honest, nope I never read a single book lol. So I have no idea what the story is even about, but I'm glad you guys are enjoying it! Tell me your thoughts on the chapter, I love to read them :)!**


	22. Chapter 18

**Wow I bet you all must have thought I fell off the face of the earth. I am really sorry this chapter took so long, a month? Yes I am ashamed. I knew what I wanted to do with this chapter, but I still struggled with writers block, plus I felt like I needed a break so that's another reason this is so late being updated. And plus my work schedule as been none stop. There is no real excuse for my lateness though and all I can say is I am really, really, really sorry. I hope you guys enjoy my chapter.**

 **I don't own anything to do with nightmare before Christimas.**

 _ **Chapter 18**_

The next day, bright and early Jack was in the kitchen feeding Zero. Lock was surprisingly the first one to come stepping in for breakfast, which was odd. Sally was usually first, and Lock was usually the last.

"Good morning!" Jack said cheerfully.

He was a little to cheerful in the morning in Locks opinion, but he could deal with it for now because there was something he really wanted from the pumpkin king, and if he played his card's right, there was a chance Jack would give in.

"Good morning," Lock yawned, taking his usual seat at the table.

"You're up early," That master of fright commented, while starting to make a pot of coffee.

Lock eyed the coffee pot carefully, "Yeah, well I just had something I wanted to talk to you about."

Jack turned away from what he was doing and turned to Lock, "Sure," He said brightly, leaning against the counter, "What did you want to talk about?"

"Well, it's like this Jack," Lock was unsure on how to word it, "You drink a cup of coffee every morning right?" The pumpkin king nodded, "Right, and you never ask me if I want a cup of coffee, and that hurts my feelings because I find it very," It took him a moment to think of the correct word, "Impolite."

Jack gave him a small grin, "I'm not trying to be rude, it's just coffee isn't for kids."

"I'm not a kid," Lock corrected, "I'm six."

The master of fright struggled not to grin, "Well people of your age shouldn't have coffee, it's bad for them."

Lock raised an eyebrow, "You drink it," He pointed out, slightly annoyed.

Jack turned and looked at his coffeepot then back to Lock, unsure on what to say, "Yes, but I'm older then you."

"So? We're both dead," Lock shrugged, "And I could have been older then you when I died, I bet I was an adult when I was human, so hence I've been old enough to drink coffee."

"Human years don't count in the afterlife," The master of fright chuckled, "But nice try."

"Yeah, but being dead is the worst thing that can possibly happen, and we're already dead, so what damage is a cup of coffee gonna do?" Jack was about to talk, so Lock went on, "Plus if you're the adult then you should be setting a good example, and since I'm the kid apparently, I see you drinking coffee so I ultimately think it's good because my good example is doing it."

"Yes," Jack tried to explain, "But-"

"But if you can't practice what you preach should you really be preaching it at all?" Lock asked, "I'm not trying to be rude, but as a child I find it very confusing."

Jack crossed his arms, and looked at the boy, "Lock," The pumpkin king laughed in amusement, "How long did it take you to think of this big long elaborate spiel anyways?"

"It's not a spiel!" Lock argued back defensively, "It's all fact, and it's all true."

Jack waved his hands protectively in front of himself, "Okay, Okay, I gotcha," He turned back to his coffee pot, "And you're right."

Lock tripped over his words, "I-I am?"

Jack nodded, while pouring a cup of coffee, "Mhmm, you get an A for effort this morning Lock."

"I do?" Lock questioned.

Jack walked over to the kitchen table with a cup of coffee, and the cream and sugar, "Yep," He said placing everything on the table in front of Lock.

Lock raised an eyebrow, not convinced, "What's the catch?"

"No catch, but I am telling you now this is only a one-time thing."

Lock frowned, "If I can't drink coffee, then I don't think it's fair that you can."

"That's true, but I am a adult," Lock was about to argue, so Jack went on, "When you're older you can do or drink whatever you want," He paused for a moment, "Well almost anything."

Lock still didn't look convinced, "You can take over someone else's holiday and that's just perfectly fine because you're an adult, but I can't drink coffee because I'm a kid?"

"No," Jack said, smirking to himself.

Lock was now completely lost, "That's basically what you're saying though."

"I can take over another holiday because I'm the pumpkin king," Jack flashed an amused grin at Lock.

Lock now very annoyed. He rolled his eyes at the master of fright, "That's probably the dumbest thing I've ever heard."

Jack continued to grin, "Says the boy that's arguing over not being allowed to drink coffee, when there is a cup right in front of him that he's allowing to get cold."

Lock just muttered something that was impossible to understand to himself, while adding his sugar and cream in his cup to his satisfaction.

Jack watched him for a couple seconds, shaking his head in amusement.

After everyone else was up, a whiny and complaining fight broke out during breakfast. After the meal was over, it was coats and masks on, and off to town for a second day, much to the trick or treaters displeasure.

"I don't want to go back to town hall," Barrel whined, trudging behind Jack and Sally, with Lock and Shock.

"It was kind of fun yesterday," Lock said optimistically.

"It was boring towards the end though," Shock pointed out.

"And you're a little more cheerfully the usual," Barrel said suspiciously.

Shock squinted at Lock, "Yeah, what's up with that?"

Lock looked at both his friend, "I'm not allowed to be happy?" He asked in disbelief.

"You're usually never happy," Barrel suggested.

"I was yesterday!" Lock argued back.

Shock rolled her eyes, "Because you had coffee yesterday," She paused for a moment and turning to him glaring.

"What's your problem?" Lock asked, now getting slightly annoyed, "Woulda stop staring at me?"

"Sally never gave him coffee this morning," Barrel whispered.

Shock glanced at Lock, then over at Jack, then back to Lock, "How did you pull that one?" She questioned.

"What are you talking about?" Lock asked, clearly annoyed.

Shock rolled her eyes, "Don't be a moron, how did you talk old Jack into giving you coffee?"

"Like I'd ever tell you," Lock answered back. He rarely ever won battles with Shock, so he wasn't going to start giving her tips on the few victories he did have, "Now stop talking to me, you're both killing my caffeine rush."

Barrel just snorted, while Shock roller her eyes. They both agreed Lock was a moron.

Once they arrived to town hall, Jack lead the trio back into his office like yesterday to go over the rules. Sally and Zero stood beside the door of the pumpkin kings office.

"Same rules as yesterday," Jack said softly, taking a seat at his office chair, "And no throwing anything threw my window, okay?"

The trick or treaters just nodded restlessly.

Jack had noticed the restless, almost long faces, "What's wrong?" He asked, slightly concerned.

"I don't wanna be in town," Shock whined. It got boring yesterday, so it wasn't going to be any fun today.

"I want to go back to the manor," Barrel sighed, "It's funner there."

"You had fun yesterday," Sally suggested brightly.

"Yeah, but I don't feel like using my slingshot today," Shock complained.

Lock nodded in agreement to her statement, "It does get old after a while."

"Then play with something else," The master of fright suggested, honestly he didn't understand the issue.

"Like what?" Barrel blurted.

Jack didn't know. They were kids, shouldn't they know what amused them? On the other hand though, all their dangerous toys were all locked away. The pumpkin king was more than willing to buy them actual toys, but he doubted they would use them.

He glanced over to Zero in the corner, he wasn't a toy, but he was enough to fix the problem short-term, at least. He snapped one of his rib bones off and held it out to the trio, "Here, go outside and play fetch with Zero," He offered.

That was a mistake. After trying to hand one of them the bone, Shock reached for it first, and Lock, being well Lock, and taking some sort of pride in always being first when it came to Shock, elbowed her right in the eye.

Jack had noticed for the first time when it came to their little fights, Shock actually winced with pain for a couple seconds before slowly getting up in an attempt to lunge back at Lock.

Jack quickly intervened, "No fighting!" He ordered firmly. He handed the bone over to Barrel, "You two," He pointed to Shock and Barrel, "Go outside and play with Zero, and Sally if you don't mind I would like to have a small talk with Lock."

Sally nodded, and turned to leave quietly, leaving the door up for the other two.

Lock rolled his eyes and desperately wanted to groan in frustration, course he'd be in trouble with the pumpkin king once again, like usual.

Barrel and Shock both flashed him a smirk before stepping out of the office, with Zero reluctantly following.

"Take a seat," Jack ordered, while getting up to close the door.

Lock groaned, while sitting down in his usual seat, great here comes another lecture. It was even worse because it was just him in trouble. He hated being singled out all the time.

The master of fright took a seat at his desk, and looked the boy over, "Lock," He said in a levelling tone, "Remember that I told you? About how every action has a consequence?"

Lock crossed his arms, giving the pumpkin king a stubborn nod. He was getting pretty sick of listening to Jack repeat the same things over and over again. He was like a broken record.

"Good, so don't give me that look," Jack said a little more sternly.

"What did I even do?" Lock argued back, clearly annoyed.

"You hit Shock."

Lock was confused, "So?" He blurted, what was the big deal, he always smacked Shock around, and she usually did the same back.

"So, never under any circumstances are you to hit a girl," The pumpkin king corrected sharply.

Lock growled in frustration, more rules? And of course like almost all of Jack's rules, they always worked in Shocks favour, just because she was a girl!

"So, she can go around smacking me and it's fine because I'm a boy right?" Lock snarled back in frustration, "And so it's perfectly fine if I slap Barrel around because he's a boy!"

"No, you should never hit anyone," Jack corrected, "But you have to understand, you are physically stronger than her, and you could really hurt her someday."

"She's taken some good swings at me in the past," Lock muttered back, "And they hurt!"

"And when she does, trust me she will be in trouble for it," Jack said softly, "But you are both getting older, and soon the fighting and punching won't be fair game anymore."

Lock raised his eyebrows, "No it isn't fair already because I apparently can't punch her just because she's a girl. Jeez Barrels really going to hate you when I'm slapping him around twice as much."

The pumpkin king was trying to think of the right way to word it. It was a tough issue to bring up, especially to Lock. Jack didn't know how to really explain it, hitting was wrong period. And usually Jack would have just scowled him for doing so, but Jack was noticing things were slightly starting to change when it came to their little scuffles and punching. It all really started when Lock pushed Barrel off the couch giving him a nasty little nose bleed. It takes quite a bit of power to be able to shove someone else right from their seat, and Lock did so with little to no effort. Same with elbowing Shock just a minute ago, he did it so thoughtlessly, and it actually hurt her a lot more than usual.

Lock was getting older, and would only be getting stronger. Soon enough Barrel would be able to take the blows from him, but with Shock, no doubt she could throw good punches, but soon hers wouldn't be nearly as effective as Lock or Barrel were going to be, and to the master of fright, this kind of thing was something that should be called upon sooner better then later.

"Lock," Jack explained carefully, "No one should ever hit or punch anyone, boy or girl, hitting is still wrong, and I know sometimes you three fight because well because you're kids, right?"

"I am not a kid," Lock corrected sharply.

"You are getting older though," Jack went on, "Meaning you are going to get physically stronger, while Shock on the other hand is going to get much more feminine and dainty." Lock gave him a puzzled look, so the pumpkin king went on, "She can pack the punches I'm sure, but it is not fair to hit someone that is less powerful then you. And it doesn't seem like it now, but as you get older you will notice."

"So Shocks going to be a weakling?" Lock snorted.

The master of fright shook his head, "No, Shock is going to be an elegant young lady, and you are going to be a respectable gentlemen, and being older I expect you to teach that to Barrel by setting a good example."

Lock rolled his eyes uninterested, "And why does it have to be me?"

The pumpkin king put his hands together and talked softly, "Because Barrel looks up to you, and you don't want him to get in a lot of trouble one day do you?"

Lock just shrugged awkwardly, "No," He said sheepishly, though he could never imagine Barrel ever getting in big trouble for anything. The kid was too soft.

"And would you want someone bigger than Shock or Barrel to come up and start hurting them?"

Lock thought about it for a moment, "No," He answered again shyly. Of course he wouldn't want someone else whaling on one of his friends, what a dumb question to even ask.

"Then why do you hurt them?"

Lock was now completely lost on the point Jack was even getting at, "It isn't like I mean to seriously injure them! They punch me, I punch back."

"You shoved Barrel off the couch the other day, and gave him a nosebleed, and you elbowed Shock in the face, and I saw her wince for a moment because it hurt," Jack explained softly.

"I apologized for giving Barrel a nosebleed!" Lock shouted, still feeling guilty over hurting him the other day, "So why do you keep having to bring it up? And sorry I elbowed Shock in the face, never bothered her before, so I didn't think this time would be any different!"

Jack gave him calm smile, he didn't want to make Lock feel bad. "I'm not trying to upset you Lock. It's just sometimes I don't think you realize your own strength. All I really ask from you is to be more careful and think before you act. You don't want to hurt your friends, so consider that before fighting with them." He paused for a moment and gave Lock a tiny smug smile, "Fair?"

Lock sighed, "Fair," He murmured back.

"Good," The pumpkin king said brightly, "Now if you don't mind, I have quite a bit of work to do, I'll see you at lunchtime okay?"

"Whatever," Lock muttered, getting up from his seat and marching out the door.

"Please don't slam the-"

" _ **SLAM!"**_

"Door," Jack sighed.

Lock stormed down the hallway, giving the mayor a dirty look as he passed him.

Outside, Shock and Barrel were actually taking turns throwing the bone. And more surprisingly, Zero wasn't hating every moment of it. He didn't like it, but he didn't hate it either. He hadn't gotten that much attention since the three little monsters moved in, so this was pretty nice.

Once Lock came trudging over to his friends, the two quickly stopped what they were doing, in hopes of getting a juicy story over how much Lock got in trouble by old man Jack.

Lock, despite his coffee rush was in no mood to talk about it. He disliked getting a lecture in the first place, but what bothered him the most was that he actually didn't disagree with what Jack was lecturing him about. It made him annoyed, these were rules he should have known before being told them. He knew Shock and Barrel were weak and pathetic, and Lock always though he did go above and beyond to protect them, but Jack had just pointed out that wasn't the case at all. Lock didn't care much about really anything, but someone doing harm to his friends was something that meant almost everything to him, and the fact it was him that was harming them, had really eaten him up on the inside.

"What was that about?" Barrel finally asked.

Lock just shrugged, "He was just mad that I elbowed you Shock," He stared at his elder friend, "I'm sorry," He said whole heartily, which through Shock completely off guard, he never apologized for anything, ever.

She noticed the sincerity in his face, it was such a rare moment of Lock actually feeling bad over something, and something so stupid at that, Shock thought it was best to just drop the topic before it even really stared, "That was forever ago, who cares?" She smirked jokingly.

Lock took a deep breath of relief. For now on, he was going to at least try to be a better friend.

15 minutes later, the tricker or treaters still took turns throwing the bone. Zero dropped Jacks rib at Barrels feet (The dog also understood their little system on turn taking, which he had to admit he was pretty proud of them being so civilized for once). The youngest ex boogie boy reached to pick it up, but paused when a much wider and slightly taller shadow stood over him.

Lock and Shock tensed, while Zero's cheerful face fell to a bit of a frown. So much for them acting civilized, the dog thought.

Ethan (aka Corpse kid) looked down at Barrel, "I want a turn," He demanded.

Lock and Shock both grumbled and growled at the corpse. Either he was asking just to try and be intimidating, or he was just too stupid to grasp all the hints the tick or treaters had given him over the years on how much they hated him, which was a lot.

Course he'd pick on Barrel first, Lock thought bitterly to himself, Ethan was Shocks age and twice the size of the youngest member of the trio, making him the easiest target.

Before Barrel could respond, Ethan grabbed the rib bone as quick as possible, and chucked it somewhere in the wooded area by town hall. Not wanting to be involved in a fight, Zero slowly chased after it.

Shock threw her arms up in the air furious over such a stupid action, "Oh nice going genius!" She barked, "You wanna be the one to tell Jack that you lost his rib?"

"That was Jacks bone?" He said, clearly horrified.

Lock nodded, "Yeah and he's going to be really mad when we tell him it was you who lost it!"

Ethan snorted, "Like he'd believe you," The corpses harshly pointed out.

"You're probably too dumb to count because you'd know there is three of us telling, on one of you," Shock sneered back.

Ethan just snorted, "Yeah and you guys have such a good reputation around town. Like anyone would ever be stupid enough to believe a word that came out of one of your mouths," He carefully-eyed Shock, "And I thought you were supposed to be the smart one in the group, apparently not," He mocked.

Lock had his fist in two tight balls, and he stormed over to the corpses kid, getting right in his face, "You don't talk to her like that!" The devil growled sharply, "Now apologize, or else!"

Ethan was never really afraid of Lock, or any of the ex boogie boys for that matter. The only time they ever really did much harm to him was the time they ran over him with their stupid bathtub. And even if they did do something to him, it would really only hurt them more in the end because the entire town would just hate them twice as much as they did now.

Ethan glanced past Lock, over to Shock, "You got a bodyguard now Shock?" He continued to taunt, "I couldn't believe it when my mom said you were out shopping with Sally a couple of days ago, but now I can tell it's the truth, you really have turned into a sissy."

Lock was ready to give him a piece of his mind, but Shock shoved him out of the way. She could fight her own battles.

"And you're so smart," Shock growled, rolling her eyes, "Maybe if you had a brain in your head you'd think before throwing something, and losing it, moron!"

Ethan was about to answer, but they heard a fate bark coming from the woods.

Barrel, also not overly wanting conflict spoke up, "Zero must have found it!" He called cheerfully, despite the growing tension, "Come on!" He said, before racing off in the woods to find Zero.

"Barrel!" Shock shouted, didn't the kid remember what happened the last time they went in the woods? She rolled her eyes before chasing after him.

Lock glared at the corpse kid, "Well go ahead stupid," The devil glared, "You threw it after all."

Hesitantly Ethan followed Shock into the woods, with Lock right on his heels.

Zero stood barking, until Barrel arrived first. His eyes turned to where Zero was looking. There tangled in some spotted purple and green plant was the bone.

Without giving it a second thought, Barrel knelt down to retrieve the bone, but was yanked back by Zero, biting onto the back of the child's shirt firmly, growling as he did so.

Hoping Barrel would get the hint, Zero freed him from his grasp, and turned back to town hall floating as fast as he could.

Shock caught up to Barrel soon after, "What's wrong with Zero?" She asked.

Barrel brushed himself off and shrugged, "I don't know. The bones right there" He pointed out, "but when I tried to get it Zero yanked me back."

Shock looked at the unfamiliar planet that was surrounding the rib, "Is the plant poisonous?"

"Ha!" Ethan roared from behind them, "You're going to take advice from a dog?"

"Then what kind of plant is it then genius?" Lock asked threw his clenched teeth.

"It's a rare flower of some sort, very delicate, Zero probably didn't want your grubby hands to ruin it," The corpse kid turned to Shock, "You should know that," He smirked, once again mocking her intelligence's.

Shock never knew why corpse kid felt the need to try to bug her the most. She assumed it was because they were both the same age, and because he felt threatened by how smart she was. Still thought, when he questioned her intelligence's, it made her mad.

"I knew that!" She lied, "And because you're too brain dead to even move, I'll pick it up myself!" She shoved Barrel out of the way, and before anyone could protest Shock snatched the rib out from the tangled vines, "There!" She said, rather impressed with herself, "I didn't even harm the plant!" She announced proudly.

She held the bone up just to show off, but the only thing the three boys noticed was these huge purple blisters appearing on her hand. It took Shock a moment to realize, but once she did she dropped the bone, and rolled up her sleeve in panic. The purple sores were now growing up her arm, and pain from them quickly started to spread threw her body.

"It was poisonous!" Barrel screamed in terror, quickly stepping away from the plant.

Ethan busted out in laughter, pointing at Shock, "You fell for it! You really are dumb!" He continued to laugh.

"You knew that was poisonous!" Lock snarled from behind him, clenching both his fists.

Ethan turned to look at him, "Duh," He mocked, still laughing.

Lock looked over the corpses kid face, then turned his glare to Shock, whose purple blister break out was rapidly getting worse. He eyed Ethan again, who was still, taking great humour in the horrible thing he did, to Shock. Lock was so angry, he couldn't even contain it. He heard Jacks voice repeat in his head, "With every action, there is a consequence", Lock had decided before he acted this action was worth dealing with whatever consequence Jack could think of. Ethan had it coming. And without another thought, Lock punched Ethan right in nose, knocking him flat on the ground.

 _ **Part two**_

Jack had seen everything with Lock and Ethan. He was about to demand some answers from Lock, but once he saw Shocks condition, whatever happened with Lock and Ethan could be overlooked at the moment.

Sally scooped up Shock and rushed her to town hall, while Jack inspected the corpse kid, he seemed okay, other than a bloody nose and some bruising, but he would survive. Once that was taken care of, he suggested Ethan go back home to get his mother to clean him up, and he ordered Lock to go back to town hall, warning him he'd deal with him later. Though Lock wasn't at all phased by the threat. He did what he did, and he wasn't at all apologetic about it.

Sally rushed Shock into Jack's office, and carefully placed her in Jacks seat to inspect the blusters. They were getting worse by the minute.

The Mayor was babbling on about something, Sally completely ignored him. She didn't have time for any nonsense, Shock had to go home as soon as possible so Sally could put a special cream on them before her condition got any worse.

Jack had peered in the door of his office, "How does she look?"

Sally turned to him, "It's getting worse, we'll have to go back home, I have some cream that will help."

"You can't leave!" The Mayor screeched, "There is still piles of work to be done Jack!"

"Am I going to die?" Shock asked.

Sally gave her a smile sympathetic grin, "No," She said shaking her head, "You will be just fine."

The pumpkin king rushed over to his desk, scrambling to gather up some of his things, "Sally, go get Lock and Barrel, I'll take Shock."

Sally nodded, running her hand lovingly over Shocks cheek before rushing out the door to get the boys.

"You can't leave!" The Mayor screamed once again, "Jack there is so much to do!"

"I'm sorry Mayor," Jack said, trying to be as polite as possible, "But Shock is a little more important at the moment," He carefully picked Shock up from his seat, and without another word rushed out the door on the way back to Skellington manor.

Back home, Jack ordered Lock to go to his room, which surprisingly enough Lock did as he was told the first he was asked. Sally and Jack then carried Shock up to her room, and applied a special cream Sally had all over Shocks Arms, legs, and face.

The cream helped, but the purple blisters were still almost unbearably painful. Shock had never in her life felt as sick as she did right now. And she couldn't decide what was worse, the pain from the blisters, or humiliation for falling for something so stupid. 'I must really be dumb', she thought to herself.

Sally went to go get some special herb bath ready for Shock, so Jack tended to her while Sally was busy.

"Can I bring you anything?" The master of fright asked softly.

Shock shook her head, "No I'm fine," She said dolly. She gazed down at all the purple sores, "How could I be stupid?" She murmured to herself.

"You didn't know it was toxic," Jack reassured, "It wasn't your fault."

"Yeah, but Zero tired to warn us."

"Accidents happen," The pumpkin king said smoothly, "So don't blame yourself, what happened, happened, and all you can do is learn from it for next time."

"Yeah," Shock growled, "I'm never going to believe a single word from that stupid corpse kid, he told me it was some rare flower or something stupid like that."

The master of fight raised an eye socket, "Oh really?"

Shock nodded, "I thought it was poisonous at first, but then he told me it was a flower, so I touched it, and then I don't really know what happened. I heard someone laughing, then apparently Lock punched Corpses kid, and I don't know. It was all kind of a blur." She showed Jack one of her arms, "I mean I had bigger problems at that moment."

Jack chuckled, "Yes I can see that. Though it should clear up just as fast as they appeared. Usually only takes a couple hours for the cream to kick in."

"Will there be scars on my arms, and face, and everywhere else?" She asked slightly concerned. She didn't want to be covered in scars or scabs before the dance.

"There might be a few marks, but they should clear up within a couple of days."

"Good," Shock said, with a sigh of relief.

"Is the cream helping?"

Shock nodded, "It doesn't sting as much."

Jack smiled at her, "Good."

"But how could I be so stupid," Shock mumbled to herself again.

"You're not stupid Shock, not at all," Jack said sincerely.

She looked up at the pumpkin king, "You're just saying that because you're nice," She scowled, "I was being dumb, just admit it."

"Only smart people make mistakes. If you never made a mistake, then you would never learn," He raised an eye socket, "And that would be pretty dumb, wouldn't you agree?"

"Well I guess so," She said reluctantly.

"Baths ready!" Sally called from the hallway.

Shock scampered off to the bathroom, while Jack sat for a moment thinking of what Shock had said about Ethan. Before he spoke to Lock, the pumpkin king thought it would be best to get another side of the story. He got up, and headed downstairs.

Meanwhile in the kitchen Barrel was placing one of many phone books he had found on top of one of the kitchen chairs that he pushed over to the counter. He gazed eagerly up at the cookie jar on the counter above him, and his mouth started to water while his stomach growled. Sally wouldn't notice one cookie missing, right?

He climbed on top of the chair, and the pile of phone books. Once he was at the top, he struggled to keep his balance (his awkward shaped feet didn't help the situation). He wobbled on the unsteady surface for a couple more seconds before finally he was able to balance himself. Quite proud of himself, he leaned towards the cookie jar.

The phone books from underneath him slid, ripping him away from the cookie jar. He didn't even have time to scream before he plummeted to the floor.

Before crashing onto the hardwood floor, he felt a gentle bony hand grab him.

"What are you doing?" Jack asked, while setting the child on the countertop.

Barrel shyly wiggled in his new seaedt position, "Nothing," He lied sheepishly.

The pumpkin king gave him a playful grin, glancing over at the chair, "Doesn't look like nothing."

Barrel blushed with embarrassment for being caught. Jack couldn't help, but be slightly amused. Barrel was too much of an open book to be a liar.

"I wanted a cookie," He said shyly.

"Then why didn't you just ask?" Jack said softly, opening the cookie jar, taking one and handing it to Barrel.

"Thank you, and because you and Sally were busy," He said simply.

Jack nodded, "Fair enough," He paused, "Hey what happened today anyways?"

Barrel nibbled away at the chocolate chip cookie, "What do you mean?"

"With the plant that Shock touched, and Ethan, and Lock."

Barrel raised an eyebrow, "Ethan?" He questioned, "Or do you mean corpse kid?"

"His name's Ethan," Jack corrected softly, "Now tell me, what went on?"

Barrel took another bite of his cookie before explaining his side of the story, "Well the rib was all tangled in some plant. I was going to grab it, but Zero pulled me back. Shock came and asked if it was toxic. Corpse kid- I mean Ethan told her it was some special flower or something, so Shock grabbed it, she broke into this weird rash, Corpse- I mean Ethan started laughing, and then Lock hauled off and punched him in the face."

"So Ethan told Shock it was non toxic?" Jack questioned.

The youngest ex boogie boy shrugged, "Something like that, he just said it was some kind of special flower that Zero didn't want me to touch because my grubby hands would ruin it," The boy paused for a moment, "He was also the one that threw the bone in the woods in the first place."

"Interesting," Jack said, thinking everything over that he just heard.

"Is Shock gonna die?" Barrel blurted.

The pumpkin king shook his head, "No," He chuckled, "She's going to be just fine," He picked Barrel up and carefully set him on the floor, "Thank you for telling me what happened, now if you will excuse me," Jack turned to leave the kitchen, "Put the chair and phone books back where you found them please," The master of fright called before leaving the room and heading up to Locks room.

Lock was lying on his bed gazing up at the ceiling. He still didn't feeling guilty over his actions. But another five minutes stuck in this bedroom he swore he was going to die of boredom. He was a little to excited when he heard the door creak open.

Once he saw it was only Jack, Lock quickly stiffened up. Crossing his arms and staring straight, "I'm not apologizing," he said firmly.

Jack lightly closed the door, "Well why did you punch him?"

"He kept making Shock feel like she was stupid, plus he's an idiot," He glanced over at Jack, "He laughed when Shock started to break out in sores," He looked away from Jack again, "He knew that plant was toxic," He said bitterly.

"What makes you say that?" The master of fright tested, just to make sure the stories matched.

"She asked if it was, and he told her it was some kind of flower or something stupid like that," Lock explained grimly.

"What was the bone doing in the woods anyways?"

"It was Barrels turn to throw it, but then he came over and snatched it and chucked it in the woods," Lock rolled his eyes, "For whatever reason."

Jack scratched his skull, "Well I do believe you," He said calmly, "But that still isn't really a reason to punch somebody."

Lock looked up at the pumpkin king, "He deserved it!" The devil growled, "He's the one that started it, made Shock feel stupid, lied, and laughed! If those aren't enough reasons to punch someone then I don't know what is!" He paused for a moment, "You killed Oogie when your friends were in danger, so why is what I did any different?"

Jack bit his lip. He was completely lost on what to even tell the kid. Early today he had to tell him hitting others was wrong, but now he was slightly taking Locks side on the issue. He did have a very good point, "True," Jack said hesitantly. He paused for a while, before taking a deep breath and saying exactly what he thought on the situation, "You know what Lock? If I were you, I would have done the exact same thing. It wasn't the right thing to do, but I do agree with you for this particular situation he did deserve it," He paused again, "But the whole situation should have been handled differently."

Lock raised an eyebrow, "So I'm not in trouble?" He questioned.

Jack shook his head, "No, not this time, but the next time something like this happens again, you are to come to me or Sally, not restore to violence, or you will be in trouble, is that fair?"

Lock sighed, "Fine."

Jack smiled at him, "Good, I'm glad all that's worked out, and I apologies for getting angry with you over this whole thing, it wasn't your fault."

Lock gazed up at him, "Thanks," He muffled, but deep down he really did appreciate the apology. That was the last thing he expected from Jack, "Are you going to do anything about what Corpse kid did to Shock?" Lock asked.

Jack smirked at the boy, "There isn't too much I can do, but I will certainty explain his actions to his mother."

Lock nodded in approval with that. It was better then nothing.

Later that day, Shocks blisters were already almost completely cleared up. She was able to join everyone for supper, which was the most peaceful supper Jack and Sally had in a long time. Mostly because Lock actually behaved during the whole meal. Which was a first.

After supper, Lock, Shock, and Barrel hurried in the living room to watch TV, while the pumpkin king and his rag doll cleaned up. Jack was just putting away the last dish when the phone rang.

"I'll get it Sally," He said brightly, putting the plate away before going over to the phone, "Hello?" He said politely to whoever was on the other end of the phone.

"Jack, good evening," The mayor answered back, sounding slightly off. Though Jack wasn't phased by it, the mayor was usually out of sorts over something.

"Good evening to you Mayor," Jack responded back.

"I was just calling to tell you there is a town meeting tonight," The mayor said shyly.

The master of fright was confused, "I never organized a meeting tonight?"

The Mayor cleared his throat, "No, I did. Just some issues I feel I need to bring up, and I was wondering if you could attend, with Sally, and the trick or treaters."

Jack was completely lost on why all of them needed to attend. Town meetings were boring for kids in the first place. And everyone knew the Mayor hated the ex boogie boys, so why on earth would he even want them there? "Well, umm Shocks still a little under the weather," Jack said hesitantly, looking out the kitchen entry way and into the living room at them.

"It won't be too long Jack," The Mayor responded.

Sally leaned against the counter with a puzzled look. Jack gazed up at her and shrugged, his face just as confused as hers was.

"Well-umm, I just think it would be better if perhaps just I went tonight. Sally has a lot of work to do tonight with getting ready for the ball, and the kids are a little tired."

"It's just some small issues I want to bring up tonight that seem to be really affecting the whole town, so I'd like everyone there, including Sally and the boogie boys."

Jack raised and eye socket, "Well what issues are those?"

"You'll find out at 7:00, make sure you're in the front row! Good evening Jack, see you in an hour." "Click!"

The master of fright slammed the phone down in annoyance.

"Who was that?" Sally asked.

"Who else?" Jack complained, "The mayor! Apparently there's a town meeting tonight, and all of us have to attend," If the pumpkin king had eyes, he'd be rolling them right now.

"Shock still has some blisters," Sally mentioned, "Why do all of us have to go anyways?"

Jack threw his arms in the air with frustration, "Wish I knew, it's just nonsense in my opinion. No kid wants to go to a town meeting, I don't even want to go."

"I'm sure it's something important," Sally said, trying to cheer him up.

"It better be," Jack mumbled.

"But why do we have to go?" Barrel complained, while the pumpkin king was zipping up his jacket.

"Don't ask me, because I don't know," Jack responded back.

"I thought only the pumpkin king could call town meetings," Lock murmured while putting his mask on.

"I did too," Jack grumbled.

"I'm sure it's something very special, and that's why he wants us all to go," Sally said cheerfully, while rubbing some more cream on Shocks face.

"Where's my mask?" Shock asked, once Sally was done.

"Its right here," The pumpkin king said, holding it out to her.

"Thanks," She said, taking it and quickly putting it on.

"She still has some blisters on the bottom of her feet," Sally said to Jack.

"I'll carry her," The master of fright offered, "Is that okay with you Shock?"

Shock nodded eagerly. She hated walking.

"Good," The pumpkin king yawned, picking her up, "Okay everyone, lets get this over with, remember after the meeting we can go out for ice-cream, just like I promised." Promising them ice-cream afterwards was the only way Jack was able to convince them to go with him without focusing them.

Once they arrived to town hall, they were the first ones there, which was surprising, usually it was always packed 20 minutes beforehand.

"Can we sit in the back?" Lock asked excitedly.

"You won't be able to see anything in the back," Sally chuckled.

"That's kind of the point," Barrel responded.

"The Mayor said the front row," The pumpkin king spoke up, "Sorry guys, next time maybe." Jack walked up to the very first row, and carefully set Shock down on the bench, "Are you feeling okay?" He asked genitally, "Do you need me or Sally to bring you anything?"

Shock shook her head, "Just ice-cream."

"After," The master of fright grinned, "I promise, any flavour you want."

"Can we get waffle cones?" Barrel asked, plopping down beside Shock.

"And sprinkles?" Lock asked, taking a seat on the right side of Shock.

Jack shrugged, taking a seat beside Barrel, "I suppose that would be okay."

Sally came hobbling over, and sat beside Lock, "Hopefully everyone else shows up soon."

"Maybe they forgot," Shock suggested.

Jack shook his head, "No, no one forgets a town meeting, ever." The master of fright looked around, "Though I have to say, it's been years since I've gotten invited to one rather than hosting one."

Lock rolled his eyes, "People aren't going to start singing, are they?" He grumbled.

Sally smiled down at him, "Let's hope not," She laughed.

Minutes later town hall quickly filled up. The upside of being in the front row was most of the people attending didn't notice the ex boogie boys were also in the room, which meant fewer dirty looks. The doctor even came wheeling in and parked next to Sally.

It was getting a little overcrowded actually. After sliding down the bench a couple times, from the limited room the pumpkin finally resorted to picking up Barrel and placing him on his lap to try and make more room.

Once it seemed like everyone arrived the master of fright looked around the room, and was slightly hurt by what he saw. He never had this good of a turn out with any of his meetings in the past. What could possibly be so important that pretty much everyone in town had felt the need to show up?

After everyone was settled, the Mayor came stepping on the stage, "Ladies and gentlemen," He called, "Thank you all for coming." He scanned over the trick or treaters before continuing, "Now I'm sure you all remember two going on three weeks ago we had a town meeting over three little town pests."

Jack and Sally both cringed in their seats, praying this wasn't going where they thought it might be going.

The Mayor continued, "Now if you don't know who they are, let me show you," A massive spotlight shown on the trio and Jack and Sally, almost blinding them.

"Turn that ridiculous light off now!" The master of fright ordered.

The Mayor ignored him and went on, "Yes they have ruined quite a bit of stuff in our town," The Mayor said, pacing back and forth on the stage, "And now, Lock," He pointed at the devil boy, Lock tensed up and growled at him, but the Mayor went on, "Shock," He said now pointing her out, which in return the Mayor received the coldest stare Shock had, "And Barrel," He pointed. Barrel had struggled to make a glare back because the light was so overpowering his head was starting to hurt.

The Mayor went on, "And we have let them get away with it, but now they are ruining our sole purpose of being, Halloween, they are taking it away from us to the point I doubt there will even be a Halloween this year."

This sparked anger in the crowd, but before the shouting to kick the tricker or treaters out of town and whatever other nonsense the towns people were about to say, Jack stood up, setting Barrel down in his place.

"That is complete and utter nonsense Mayor and you know it!" The Pumpkin roared, "And turn that stupid light off before I come up there and rip it off the wall myself!"

The Mayor gestured for Igor to dim the light, which he did. He then turned to Jack, "They ruined all our stuff for Halloween, and you've barely done any work so far because of them!" The Mayor pointed coldly at the three children.

That upset and angered the trio. Lock was ready to get up and give him a piece of his mind, but Sally pulled him back, "Just let Jack handle this," She whispered to the three of them.

"They ruin everything!" A witch shouted from the back.

The master of fright ignored that comment, and turned his focus back to the Mayor, "They are only children!" Jack barked, "And I take full responsibility for how the planning with Halloween is going, it is not for a moment their fault!"

"So then you admit that planning Halloween has been going poorly?" A voice called from the middle row.

Jack turned to the crowd, "It's been a little difficult yes, but I enjoy the challenge."

"Any time we try to work, you're always distracted by them!" The Mayor shouted bitterly.

"Then maybe it's time to kick them out of town!" A voice shouted.

"Yeah!" Another called, "They've caused the town enough trouble as it is!"

"Time to get rid of them!"

Sally couldn't listen to it anymore, and jumped from her seat, turning to the rest of town, "How can you all be so heartless and mean!" She cried, "They're five, six, and seven years old for crying out loud!"

"They're ruining Halloween Sally," The Mayor explained softly.

"They haven't ruined anything!" Jack snarled, turning to him, "I have priorities that come before Halloween," He turned looking at the rest of the crowd, "I'm sorry if a couple kids health and safety comes before your precious holiday, but that's how it is! They're more important! Sorry!"

Lock, Shock, and Barrel were blown away from that last part, did Jack really care about them more then Halloween?

Everyone else in the rooms mouths dropped open, how could their own pumpkin king say three little monsters were more important than Halloween?

"Those three little brats are the reason why my poor little Ethan had a bloody nose today!" Corpse mom screamed back.

Jack narrowed in on her, "From the three sides of the story I heard your kid deserved it!"

"You're completely out of line Jack!" Corpses dad shouted.

"No, what's out of line is the fact you all clearly planned out this meeting just to hate on three children!" He turned to the trick or treaters, "We're leaving!"

Obediently the trio stood up, all them in a complete daze at what was even happening, Jack never, ever spoke up for them before, and this was above and beyond what they could have ever expected from their pumpkin king.

"You can't leave!" The Mayor called behind them, "We're not finished!"

Jack bitterly pointed at him, "This is the lowest upon low," He glared around the room, "And you should all be ashamed of yourselves! This is just wrong!"

Sally lightly touched Jacks arm, and after giving the towns people one more cold, betrayed glare, Jack turned and followed the trio with Sally, slamming the door behind him.

 **I hope you guys enjoyed it. This was all supposed to be in my last chapter, but as you can probably tell it would have been way to long lol. I am not completely happy with how this chapter turned out, but it did cover everything I wanted it to. Sorry again for the long wait, and I would like to thank** **Trilliumwoods, she has been my inspiration for when I was really struggling, so thank you so much! I'm update as soon as I can, I really do promise I will finish this because I really wanna do a sequel!**


	23. Chapter 19

**Finally this chapter is complete! Again I apologize for the crazy long update once again. I've been working on this chapter right after I posted my last one. I dunno, this one just took a long time. Work and life get in the way to much. Sorry to whoever is still reading this. Please don't hate me! Enjoy!**

 **I don't own anything to do with Nightmare before Christmas.**

 _ **Chapter 19**_

Jack was furious that night. The trip to the ice-cream parlour wasn't nearly as fun as he originally thought it would be, and he really didn't feel like even going anymore, but a promise was a promise.

The pumpkin king gave the three ex boogie boys some money, setting no limits on what they could get or how much they could spend. The master of fright really didn't care at the moment. Sally did though suggest they go sit by the railing (far from where Jack was seated) and try to get cars that drove by to hook while they enjoyed their treat. The trick or treaters knew very well it was just a ploy to keep them out and away from the couples conversation, but after such a scene in the town meeting the trio felt no need to protest. Jack and Sally had gone above and beyond for them for tonight, so the least they could do was give them some privacy.

"I'm disgusted with the entire town," Jack gripped bitterly, while watching the ex boogie boys.

Sally nodded in agreement, also staring at the three children, "You know Jack, they're just treating us the same way they have treated the three of them for months."

"I know," The master of fright sighed, "Luckily for them though they seem to at least be a little obvious to it, then we are."

Sally shook her head, "How could anyone be so cruel," She said with tears filling her eyes as she watched the three kids happily sitting on a bench giggling and enjoying their ice-cream, "They're only children."

"I don't know," Jack said emotionless, "What are we going to do?" The master of fright asked, while resting his cheek on his fist. He has been alive in Halloween town for many, many years and this was the first time he witnessed something so hateful. And because Lock, Shock, and Barrel were outcasts of town that also now linked Jack and Sally as outcasts. The town wanted the ex boogie boys gone, but the pumpkin king would refuse it, even before they moved in Jack still wouldn't be that cruel to kick them out. But how was the pumpkin king suppose to fix all this? Jack would protect them no matter what. So would Sally, but what were two people going to do up against a whole town? Sure, Jack was the pumpkin king, but that didn't help if everyone refused to listen to him.

Sally took his free hand, carefully putting it up to her cheek, "We just have to try and work through it Jack," She said softly, with a sweet smile, "We'll get through this. I'm sure everything with the town will just blow over and they will apologize."

Jack started to embrace Sally with his free hand, "I really hope so," He whispered, still doubtful.

"They're doing it again," Lock said, turning back to his friends on the bench.

Shock glanced over her shoulder, then turned to Lock, "Just leave them alone," She said, rolling her eyes at how immature Lock was being over something so stupid, "That's the least you can do."

"Hey I wasn't trying to give them a rough time!" Lock said defensively, "I was just mentioning it, am I not allowed?"

"Well it wouldn't bother anyone if you did decide to shut up," Shock muttered bitterly.

Lock looked at her with disbelief. Sure he understood if she was upset over the town meeting, but what the heck did he do to her? "What is your problem?" He asked defensively. Hours ago he punched a guy in the face was her, so why was she treating him like this?

"Because maybe for the first time in your life you should stay out of other people's business!" She growled.

"What are you talking about?" Lock asked with a mixture of confession and anger.

"I don't need a bodyguard!" She almost yelled, "I can take care of myself!"

Lock was even more confused. He knew what she was talking about now, but couldn't understand why she was upset. Jack agreed with his actions, so what was her problem? "Sorry for trying to be a good friend," He answered back defensively before taking the final bit of his ice-cream cone.

"Yeah well I don't need your help with anything!" She said back, still clearly wanting to fight with him.

Barrel though, never really wanting to evolve himself in Lock and Shock battles thought he'd speak up, "Come Shock get off his case for once would you? It's been a bad enough day."

"Stay out of this pipesqueck!" Shock ordered, "And you weren't being a good friend!" She yelled at Lock, "You made me look like some pathetic and helpless moron!"

Lock was speechless. Wasn't she supposed to be pathetic and helpless? He was getting frustrated now, when Jack finally approved Shock didn't. There was no pleasing anyone in this house at the same time! "Sorry princess, for now on I won't even talk, or look at you, sound good?" He growled. He wasn't interested in listening to another one of her little hissy fits tonight.

"That would be wonderful!" Shock said in an icy tone, turning away from him.

Lock followed her lead, and looked away from her. He was tired of her bossy, cranky attitude anyways. Once it finally felt like just maybe Jack was actually on his side, Shock decided she was going to be difficult to get along with. Typical. Shock could never make anything easy. And just in the last couple weeks Shock was getting more and more moody and upset over things that were just stupid. Like when she screamed at him and went to her room a couple days ago, what was up with that?

Barrel wiggled nervously in his seat. He always hated fighting and conflict. He blamed a lot of it on his human life which was understandable. Though remembering your human life while in the afterlife was difficult, it wasn't completely impossible to remember bits and parts of it either. He vaguely remembers his human childhood, but he does recall lots of fighting between two people he doesn't clearly remember, other than the fact he loved them both very much and was usually caught in the middle of their battles. He hated when Lock and Shock fought because at times it could get pretty ugly. And both them were too stubborn to give in.

"Well I'm glad Jack and Sally said something," Barrel piped up, trying to lighten the mood.

Lock and Shock stayed quiet, but they did both agree with what Barrel had said. Lock still wasn't completely sold on Jack Skellington being a nice guy (He still preferred Sally more, and still thought she could do a lot better with her choice of men) but the pumpkin king didn't lose any points with the young devil either. Instead of Jack being intolerable Lock now decided he was at least bearable for the most part. He still wasn't a fan, but he didn't hate Jack either.

Shock for the most part was also pleased with Jack and Sally's outburst at the meeting, but in pit in her stomach also made her slightly annoyed. Mainly because she strongly disliked anyone else trying to protect her or defend her. She could look after herself. Though strangely enough it didn't bother her so much when Sally spoke up, that was fine. But she didn't need no guy sticking up for her because she could take care of herself. In Jack's case though she let this one slide because she did ask him to stand up for her and her friends more, and it wasn't just her he was speaking for, and deep down she did appreciate it.

Other than Locks case earlier today, when she didn't ask, made her furious. She wasn't no damsel-in-distress and she would never, ever allow anyone to treat her like she was.

Barrel was flattered with everything Jack and Sally had done, and felt more good then he had ever felt before in the last couple weeks. For him it really sealed the deal that Jack and Sally did like him and his friends, and that they did care after all.

The trio were just as quiet as Jack and Sally were on the way back home. The pumpkin king and the rag doll were still trying to wrap their heads around everything that had happened tonight.

Shock and Lock hadn't spoken to one another since their little fight, and Barrel found everything so awkward between everyone that he decided it was best to also keep quiet.

Back at the manor, even though Jack really wasn't in the mood to, he still kept to his word and took goosebumps out to read.

Though Lock still hadn't admitted that he enjoyed the book, he felt Shocks icy stare while he was sitting in the living room pretending to do something else. He still didn't understand what her problem was, but he knew when he wasn't wanted. Even though he did want to listen to the story, instead he got up and stormed up to his room, slamming the door behind him.

Jack peaked up from the book, "What's wrong with him?" He asked, puzzled, but also concerned.

Sally set her sowing aside, "I'll talk to him," the rag doll said softly, getting up from her seat. It was never like Lock to go to bed earlier then he had to. There must have been something bugging him.

Lock stood in his bedroom muttering to himself while using his slingshot to knocking random things over, pretending it was Shocks face.

Sally knocked lightly on the door before peaking in, "Lock," She said softly, "What are you doing?"

"Nothing," Lock muttered, throwing his slingshot on the floor.

"Well can I come in?" She asked bravely

"Sure, whatever," Lock muttered, much to the rag dolls surprise.

Sally wobbled in, lightly closing the door behind her, "Is something wrong?"

Lock marched over to the window, "No," He growled, gazing outside.

"Then why are you up here all by yourself?"

Lock turned to her, "Am I not allowed to be?" He barked.

Sally gave him a slightly hurt, and upset look. She was only trying to help.

Lock took notice on her face expression, "Sorry," He said in a much softer apologetic tone, "It's not you," He explained, "It's just-" The young devil stopped himself. He never expressed how he felt to anyone, and he wasn't going to start today. He hated all that mushy, feely stuff.

He turned away from Sally, and continued to look out the window, "I'm just tired."

Sally didn't believe that for a minute, "Is it about the town meeting?" She asked.

Lock sighed, "No it's not, I don't care about that," He said honestly. He turned back to her, "I just want to be alone okay?" He asked, struggling to stay patient. The last thing he wanted to do was upset Sally. He already made enough people mad at him for one day.

Sally looked at him for a moment, reading his face expression. Something was bugging him, she could tell. She wanted to stay and try to get him to talk to her, but on the other hand it was Lock she was dealing with, and usually when Lock was bothered by something he would demand people get out of his way and shut people completely out. Sally didn't want to make him mad and cause him to act like that towards her. His temper was just too easy to set off.. Lock would talk when he wanted to, not when someone would try and force it out of him. That's just the way he was, and Sally felt like she should respect.

"Okay," She said in her calm and pleasant voice, turning to the door, "But if you need anything, anything at all I'm here to help."

Lock gave her a nod. And with that, Sally quietly left the room to allow him to have his privacy.

The next morning Sally was preparing eggs and bacon for breakfast, while Jack was frantically rushing to make a cup of coffee.

Finally Sally had to ask, "What's the rush?"

The pumpkin king was now frantically stirring in the cream and sugar, "I just want to drink it before Lock comes downstairs," Jack explained.

"Why?"

"Because if he sees me drinking it he's going to give me this big long lecture on how much of a hypocrite I am because I won't let him drink coffee because I think it's bad for him, but I drink it," He lifted up his cup ready to take a sip, "So when he comes down, I won't have any coffee to drink, and I'll be setting a good example, and he can't argue with me then."

Sally smirked at her boyfriend, "So lying is setting a good example?" She asked, raising an eyebrow.

"He doesn't know that, and what he doesn't know won't hurt him."

"You're intimidated by a child," Sally said with a grin, "You have to lie just because you're afraid of arguing with him."

"I'm the master of fright Sally, nothing scares me," Jack said in good humour, "Especially not a six-year ol-" He was cut off by the sound of little footsteps coming towards the kitchen area. Clearly paranoid, Jack quickly acted, and without a second though dumped his untouched mug of coffee down the sink.

It took everything Sally had not to laugh when Barrel came stepping into the kitchen. The rag doll couldn't help but giggle a tiny bit when she saw how relieved the pumpkin king looked that it wasn't Lock. The master of fright was scared of one little tiny six year old devil. Sally grinned at the thoughts of when Lock would be a teenager.

Barrel wiped his sleepy eyes while taking Shocks seat at the table.

"Why are you sitting there?" Jack asked, while quickly hiding any evidence that he made coffee this morning.

"Shock told me too," Barrel yawned.

Sally looked over her shoulder at him, "How come?"

The littlest ex boogie boy shrugged, "I don't know, but she's really cranky this morning so I'm not going to argue with her," Barrel eyed the doorway to make sure Shock wasn't coming in, "She's scary when she's cranky," He whispered.

The pumpkin king walked over to the little boy,"Almost as frightening as Lock?" Jack asked in a comical whisper.

Barrel turned to Jack, "That depends, would you rather die a brutal, terrifying, violent death, or a slow agonizing, horrendous death?"

Jack grinned at him, "I suppose I'd pick the brutal death," He said, while walking over to his seat.

Barrel nodded, "Yeah so that's why I'm sitting here."

Shock came storming into the kitchen, taking Barrels usual seat, looking clearly annoyed and mumbling something to herself.

"Good morning," Jack said brightly, "decided to change it up a bit?" He said eyeing her at now apparent new seat at the table.

"I wanna move seats!" Lock complained now stepping into the kitchen.

The pumpkin king turned and grinned at him, "Don't like sitting beside me?" He asked playfully.

As expected, Lock wasn't amused.

He stomped over to his usual seat at the table and just pouted, "Everyone else can switch seats, but I can't?" He tested, looking up at Jack.

The master of fright shrugged, not really wanting to fight with Lock so early in the morning, "You can move your seat over beside Barrel if you'd like."

"No he can't!" Shock growled from the other side of the table.

"Why not?" The master of fright asked.

Shock stuck her nose in the air, "Because I want him as far away from me as possible."

"Jack said I could-," He paused and turned to Barrel, "I mean, Barrel tell Shock Jack told me I could switch seats."

Sally and Jack couldn't decide what was more ridiculous, the fact Lock expected Barrel to repeat what he just said, or the fact Barrel did it.

"Barrel, tell Lock if he switches seats I'll punch him right in the gut," Shock said, glaring at Lock.

Barrel turned to Lock, "Shock said if you switch seats she'll punch you in the gut."

Lock shot a death glare back at Shock, "Tell Shock she's not the boss around here."

Barrel turned to repeat the message to Shock, but Jack cut in.

"You're all being ridiculous, what's going on?" He asked, eyeing Lock and Shock.

The two oldest ex boogie boys didn't say anything, so Barrel decided to speak up.

"They're not speaking to one another."

Sally came wobbling over to the kitchen table to serve everyone, "How come?" She asked, serving Jack first.

"Because he can't mind his own business," Shock explained.

"Because she acts like a crybaby over everything," Lock spat.

Shock slammed her hands down on the table, "I do not!" She screamed, standing up in her chair.

Lock slouched in his seat with his arms crossed, "Oh so now you talk to me?" He snarled, raising his eyebrows.

"I never once said I wasn't going to talk to you moron! I said it would be wonderful if you didn't talk to me," She paused for a moment, "So shut up!" She finally growled.

Lock was about to open his mouth and fire something back, but Jack beat him to it.

"Shock," The pumpkin king said in a stern yet reasoning tone, "That is no way to speak to anyone," He gestured to Lock, "Lock, if you want to sit beside Barrel than you certainty can."

The young devil made a face at Shock before hoping off his seat and pushing his chair over beside Barrel.

"Why does he always get his way?" Shock growled.

Sally was now serving Shock, "He doesn't always get his way," Sally corrected softly, "But he has behaved himself for the last couple days and it's only fair to reward him for that."

Lock struggled to hold back a smile from that little bit of praise. It felt good for once not to be the one getting punished or lectured.

Shock on the other hand was overcome with anger, "So what?" She snarled, "Lock punches someone in the face and all of a sudden he gets treated like a prince?"

Before Jack and Sally had a chance to say anything, Shock shoved her plate of eggs aside, tossing it carelessly on the floor and shattering the plate.

Lock and Barre giggled quietly to themselves. She might have been the smartest, but at the moment all she was doing was digging herself in deeper trouble, and her little tempter tantrum was only making her look stupid.

Shock though was to mad to care. Before Jack and Sally said anything, she stormed out of the kitchen and upstairs to her room, slamming the door behind her.

Lock and Barrel bursted out laughing, which was quickly stopped by Jack.

"Cut it out!" The pumpkin king scolded.

The two boys quickly stopped, but like usually Lock had to argue.

"We didn't do anything," the young devil pointed out.

Jack rose from his seat, ignoring Lock, "I'll talk to her," He said, looking at Sally.

Sally nodded in agreement. It was only fair after all that Jack talked to her since the rag doll talked to Lock last night.

Once Shock was in her bedroom she started pacing back and forth trying to make sense of all the emotions she was having all at once. She was so mad, yet upset at the same time. She wanted to scream, but she also wanted to sit and cry. It wasn't fair though, why was Lock getting his way? He made her look like an idiot yesterday, and everyone praised him for it!

She stopped pacing and looked at her reflection in the mirror. She started to breathe fast and heavy and felt like bawling her eyes out. She couldn't understand what was wrong with her or why she was so upset. She wanted someone to give her a big hug, but also wanted everyone to go away at the same time.

There was a light knock at her door.

Still frustrated with everything she screamed, "Go away!"

Jack came in anyways, lightly closing the door behind him, "Shock," He said trying to reasonable and understanding.

"Get out!" Shock demanded coldly, ripped her face away from her reflection and turning her back to the pumpkin king.

The pumpkin took a couple small steps toward her, "What seems to be the problem?" He asked, ignoring her request for him to leave.

"I said get out!" Shock now screamed.

"You have a mess to clean up downstairs," Jack said firmly.

Shock snorted and rolled her eyes, "You clean it up," She talked back.

The pumpkin king chuckled over her foolish request, "I'm not the one that made the mess."

Shock turned to him, giving him a deadly glare, "Don't laugh at me!" She yelled.

"Then don't yell at me please," Jack said, trying to be a little reasonable, "Now please go downstairs and just clean up the mess you made so we can move on from all of this."

Shock turned away from him with her arms crossed, "I said, get out," She repeated bitterly.

"Why are you acting this way Shock?" Jack asked. Really this whole temper tantrum went right over the pumpkin kings head. Sure she acted out before, but never like this. At least when she did get upset over something in the past you could at least usually reason with her, but today she was being almost as impossibe, almost if not more difficult than Lock usually was. But whenever Lock acted out at breakfast all the pumpkin king had to do was threaten to send him to his room, which in this case that wouldn't work because Shock was already there, and from the sounds of things had no intentions on leaving.

"Go away," Shock said again in a cold voice.

The master of fright couldn't for the life of him understand why she was acting the way she was, but he was losing patience's with her snarky attitude, and he certainly wasn't going to stand around all morning arguing with her.

"I'm through with your attitude," Jack said sternly, only to get his point across that he wasn't playing this game with her, "Say or do anything else that isn't going downstairs to clean up your mess and I'll do the exact same thing I did to Lock and wash your mouth with soap, which I'm sure if you asked him, wasn't an overly pleasant experience."

Shock gave him a stone cold look, but Jack refused to give in. All he wanted from her was to clean up the dish she broke, he wasn't asking for anything too unreasonable.

"You have exactly five minutes to be downstairs and start cleaning everything up," The master of fright said before swinging the door open and going back downstairs.

Shock stormed over to the door, slamming it shut. She then marched over to her mirror to practice different face expressions to prevent her from crying. It was like this wave of emotions hitting her all at once, and Jack had only made things worse. She just wanted to be left alone, hiding underneath her bed covers bawling her eyes out.

'I never cry!' She yelled inside her head, 'What's wrong with me?' She said, gazing at her wobbly frown, and twitching eyes that desperately wanted to break into tears. She wasn't even sure if she was angry with Lock, Jack, or herself at this moment. It just seemed like everything she was doing this morning wasn't going her way at all. 'I'll look like an idiot!" She thought to herself, with the imagine in her mind of her on the kitchen floor cleaning everything up while Lock and Barrel laughed at her, on the other hand thought she did not want her mouth washed with soap. And most likely if she did choose that option Jack would probably punish her then make her clean everything up. Neither one of her two options worked in her favour. There was no possible way she could win this battle.

Shock sighed in defeat. She hated losing to anything. There was no way out of it, and she knew much better than Lock to try and work around Jack's options he always gave. The pumpkin king always kept his word on things whether they are good or bad.

Exactly five minutes later Shock returned downstairs with a straight face and cleaned everything up, and once she was done without a single word from anyone she marched back upstairs, slamming the door behind her.

Later that day Jack was up in his study still working on the plans for next Halloween, while Sally was in her room with the two boys taking their measurements for the new clothes she planned to make them for the upcoming Ball, that was now only a few days away.

"Are you done making Shocks dress?" Barrel asked, while the rag doll was measuring his arm length.

Sally nodded, "Yes I just finished," She glanced over at the door, "I was hoping she would try it on today actually."

"Asking her to do anything today would be suicide," Lock snorted, sitting in Sally's rocking chair in the corner.

Sally turned to him, "Is she upset over something?"

Lock rolled his eyes, "Who knows?"

"She was freaking out at Lock last night when we got ice-cream," Barrel interjected.

The rag doll turned to the littlest ex boogie boy, "About what?"

"She was mad because Lock punched that corpse kid in the face," Barrel shrugged, "Something about her not needing a bodyguard."

Lock flashed a glare at Barrel, "Shut up!" The young devil growled.

Barrel was confused, "What's your problem?"

Lock jumped from his seat, "The fact you can't mind your own business!" The devil yelled, with his tail flicking back and forth, "It's between me and Shock so stay out of it!"

Barrel and Sally both stared blankly at Lock as he stormed out of the room.

Sally had wanted to say something to him, but she was unsure on what to really say. What was up with everyone's sudden mood swings today?

"Cranky," Barrel muttered after Lock was gone.

The rag doll ripped her eyes away from the doorway and back to the youngest ex boogie boy, "Was there a fight between Lock and Shock or something last night?"

Barrel turned to her, "Shock was mad at Lock for punching that guy in the face, and then Lock said he wasn't talking to her," He shrugged, "And they have both been really moody and cranky ever since."

"I see," The rag doll said in a deep thought. She was slightly relieved to know it wasn't the town meeting last night that was upsetting everyone, but still, why was the fact Lock punched Ethan in the face the main source that was upsetting the two. From what Sally viewed, Lock felt no remorse over doing what he did, and Shock was never fond of the corpse boy anyways, so what could possibly be the issue?

The rag dolls thoughts were interrupted by a much smaller voice, "Sally, my arms getting tired."

Sally turned her gaze down at Barrel, "Oh I'm sorry Barrel, you can put your arm down now!" She said, forgetting she was measuring his arm length.

Barrel did as he was told and stared up at Sally.

Sally smiled at him, "How about we take a break and you go play for a little bit?"

Barrel obeyed, and hopped down from the stool Sally asked him to stand on and raced out of the room.

Once he was gone, Sally set her notes and measuring tape aside and hobbled out into the hallway, towards Locks room.

She knocked three times before slowly opening the door, "Lock," She said softly.

Lock was lying in the centre of his bed, with his arms crossed gazing up at the ceiling, "Kind of want to be alone Sally," He murmured rolling his eyes. Didn't rag dolls understand privacy?

Sally shuffled in the room as quietly as she could, closing the door behind her, "Something is bothering you, and I want to know what it is," She noticed the devil was ready to protest so she continued, "I want to help Lock, that's all," She paused, "So please don't shut me out."

"It's nothing," Lock mumbled, rolling on his side facing away from Sally. He liked Sally and all, but jeez why did she always have to try an talk about things all the time? Sure it was better than Jack's lectures, but still it was annoying.

Sally wasn't going to throw in the towel just yet though. "Shock got upset that you punched Ethan in the face huh?" she asked, trying a new tactic.

Lock rolled back over to face the rag doll, "She freaked out," The devil boy said, now wiggling in a sitting position, much to Sally's surprise that it seemed to work.

"Said she doesn't need a bodyguard?" Sally questioned, taking a seat at the foot of the bed.

Lock was now angry over the reminder of that statement, "It's so confessing," He now vented, "Jack told me she's weak and pathetic," He explained, "So I try and protect her, and she flips out, it's like I can't win."

Sally struggled not to grin. She understood his frustration, it wasn't that. It was the fact that she highly doubted Jack used the words weak and pathetic when deciding Shock. The rag doll honestly had no idea what the pumpkin king lectured the boy about yesterday, but she assumed it had something to do with him elbowing Shock in the face. And if her assumption was correct, the rag doll was surprised that Jacks talk really hit home with Lock.

"Lock," Sally said sympathetically, "You didn't do anything wrong."

"Then why is Shock mad at me?"

Sally gave him a light, understanding smile, "You know Shock, she's very independent."

Lock turned away from Sally and buried his face in his pillow, "So I try and protect my friend, and I still end up screwing everything up," He muffled.

Sally moved a little closer to him, "Lock," She said smoothly, "Anything with a good intention at heart is never a mistake, or a screw up."

"Then why's she mad?" He muttered.

"She just misunderstood your intentions," Sally said in a soothing voice, "That's all."

Lock rolled over to face Sally, "Then I just won't talk or touch anyone," He growled, "That way no one will misunderstand because I never did anything in the first place!"

The rag doll sighed, "You shouldn't think that way."

"Why not?" Lock questioned, sounding slightly frustrated, "I tried to follow Jack's many, many, _**MANY**_ rules, and still manged to make someone mad."

Sally smiled at him, she knew he felt discouraged with himself, even though he shouldn't have. He was trying, and at the end of the day that was all her or Jack would have ever asked for.

"I'll talk to Shock, and she'll understand," She gave the boy a reassuring look, "Trust me."

Lock just snorted, now wiggling to sit up again, "Good luck," He snorted.

Sally raised an eyebrow, "Don't trust me?" She questioned with a smirk.

Lock shook his head confidently, "No one can get threw her wooden head."

Sally bit her lip nervously. If she could get through to Lock, she could most definitely get through to Shock, couldn't she?

She gazed down at Lock, "She'll understand," The rag doll pointed to the window, "It's too beautiful of a day for you to be up here anyways. So why don't you go enjoy it, and I'll take care of Shock."

Lock looked reluctantly at Sally, then turned to the window, then back at Sally. Poor rag doll, he thought to himself. Sally wouldn't stand a chance between a raging Shock. He did warn her though, and if Sally's final death wish was for Lock to go play outside or something simple like that, he supposed that was the least he could do for her.

He shrugged, "I guess I could," Lock said, now getting up and sliding off the bed.

Sally also got up to follow him out the door. She was rather proud of herself for actually getting somewhere with Lock. It was the first time since the trio moved in that anyone was ever able to have a real conversation with him and actually get him to talk.

The rag doll turned to Shocks room, when Lock spoke up.

"Hey is what you said really true?" The young devil questioned.

Sally turned to him, "What's that?" She asked brightly.

"Anything with a good intention at heart is never a screw up?"

Sally nodded, "Most definitely," She said with a confidant smile.

"Thanks Sally," Lock said sincerely, with a tiny grin on his face. He turned away from the rag doll, and ran for downstairs to find Barrel.

Sally watched him run off, smiling to herself, before turning back to Shocks room. Hopefully her talk with Shock would be just as successful...

Meanwhile Jack was up in his office working away. He only ripped himself away from his work, when we faintly heard the front door open and close. He gazed out the window to see Lock and Barrel rushing down the outside steps with their slingshots, no coats, and running a little to close to the road for the pumpkin kings comfort.

It was quite clear they never asked Sally for permission to go outside. Jack of course didn't want to discourage them to play outside, he was actually thrilled that they were. But how many times did he have to nag at them to put their coats on? And it would be a much greater comfort if they ran around in the backyard, instead of the front yard, or at least had someone watching them.

Jack sighed, getting up from his seat, here we go again, he thought to himself. The master of fright never realized the curse of being an adult until always being around kids. He always wanted the best for all three of them, and always tried to steer them in the right direction, but always manged looking like the bad guy that sucked the fun out of everything at the same time.

Barrel and Lock were running around in the middle of the road, randomly shooting rocks wherever. They didn't have a clue what they were even doing, but it was fun.

"See if you can hit that tree over there Lock!" Barrel said excitedly.

Lock looked at the tree and aimed his slingshot, had his aim perfect, and was just about to shoot...

"Ah-Hmm."

What was suppose to be Locks perfect shot, was completely ruined by whoever just talked. Extremely annoyed with losing his focus Lock snapped his head around, glaring at Jack in the doorway.

"You made me miss!" He yelled at the pumpkin king.

"My sincere apologies," Jack said politely, "But if I may interrupt you two gentlemen for a moment, I'd to point out a couple issues I'm having here."

Barrel lowered his slingshot to listen, while Lock just rolled his eyes and crossed his arms.

Jack cleared his throat, "Firstly, if you two prefer not to get run over by a car, may I suggest stepping off and away from the road."

Lock and Barrel both looked at where they were standing, neither one of them noticing that they were in the middle of the street. They both stepped over to the gate.

"Wonderful," The master of fright said, "Secondly next time you decide to go outside, please ask for permission."

Barrel kicked some dirt, shyly looking up at Jack, "We never had to ask Oogie," He said sheepishly.

"Because unlike myself, I'm sure Oogie didn't care where you were at or if you got hit by a car, or got sick, which leads me to my third issue. If I've told the two of you once, I've told you a hundred times, coats are on when you're outside."

"But it's not that cold out," Barrel whined.

"And you're not wearing a jacket," Lock pointed out harshly.

Jack was getting a little sick of Lock always firing back at him like that. And it bugged the pumpkin king even more because Lock was always right. Even so though, Lock was still a child, and it really wasn't his place telling an adult, let alone the pumpkin king what to do.

The master of fright crossed his arms, "Well firstly, I was rushing outside before either one of you got hit by a car, and secondly I can decide for myself whether or not to wear a coat."

Lock raised an eyebrow, "So can we," He challenged.

Jack shook his head, "No you can't."

"And why not?" Lock snorted.

Jack took a deep breath, "Because I'm the adult, and you two, sorry, but you're the children. Which means because I'm the adult it's my job to make the decisions for myself, and for the two of you, and it's your job is to listen to what I ask you two to do."The pumpkin knew that was a petty excuse, but this was something he wasn't going to just dismiss. He didn't need or want anyone getting sick again.

"Oh come on!" Lock said in disbelief, "That's the stupidest reason ever, and we're not children!"

"Well in twelve years Lock, and in thirteen years Barrel you two can make whatever decisions you want. But until then go back inside and put your coats on, please."

Both boys rolled their eyes, and murmured something to themselves, but they did do as they were told and marched back up the stairs, pass Jack to go back inside and put on their stupid coats.

Meanwhile, Sally finally worked up the courage to knock on Shocks bedroom door.

"Shock," She said in her sweet soft voice, "It's me, I was hoping maybe we could talk, or something, maybe."

"Go away," A sharp, cold voice growled on the other side of the door.

Sally was a little unsure on what to even say, she was tempted to just leave her be, but on the other hand, that was what she did last night with Lock, and that didn't make the problem just go away.

"You're upset with Lock punching Ethan huh?" Sally said over the door, trying the same tactic she tried with Lock. If it worked once, it was bound to work twice...right?

Sally heard Shock get up and stomp over to the door.

Shock swung the door open, and glared at Sally, "What did he tell you!" She demanded.

Sally stammered, struggling to make eye contact, "Well he just said that you told him you don't need a body guard."

"I don't!" Shock spat, "And what business does he have telling other people what I said!" She began to yell in fury, "Can't he just keep his big stupid mouth shut!"

The rag doll tried to explain,"Well, umm Shock it isn't really-"

"I'll shut his stupid mouth once and for all!" Shock declared, storming past Sally and bolted down stairs.

Meanwhile.

Once Lock and Barrel were inside, Jack mentioned his final ruling, "And I want you two to play in the backyard, not the front yard please."

"But there's less rocks in the backyard for our slingshots," Barrel said, struggling to zip up his coat.

Jack knelled down to help him with the zipper, "It's just more safe in the backyard," He explained gently.

"We're dead," Lock growled, buttoning up his red coat, "Safety shouldn't really matter anymore."

The pumpkin king was about to argue Locks point, when he noticed Lock forcefully get shoved on the floor.

A raging Shock was quickly on the floor pinning Lock to the ground before he was even aware on what was happening.

Barrel turned to look at what was going on, meeting Shocks furious gaze. He quivered at the look, carefully taking a few steps back. He pitied Lock.

"When are you going to learn to keep your stupid mouth shut!" Shock screamed.

Lock struggled to get out of her solid grasp, but it was no use. "I didn't say anything!" Lock pleaded, fearful on what she was about to do to him.

"Liar!" Shock yelling, lifting her right fist, "This should teach you!" She was about to punch Lock right in the mouth, when something grabbed onto her right wrist and yanked her off Lock.

"What has gotten in to you!" Jack scolded Shock, while Shock punched and slapped at Jacks hand to try and break free.

Sally came stepping down the stairs, trying to move as fast as she could (which wasn't fast at all) while Lock stood back up, cautiously stepping away from Shock.

Shock was completely frustrated. Everything today was going wrong, and everyone was siding with Lock. It wasn't fair! She screamed in her head, while she continued to try to break away from the pumpkin kings grasp so she could continue to punch Lock. She was so frustrated with the day she felt like she was going to cry again.

Sally had noticed Shocks overwhelmed upset face, "Lock, Barrel, go outside please," She ordered pleasantly.

Not wanting to deal with a raging Shock both boys ran into the kitchen and went out the backdoor.

Once they were gone the pumpkin king freed Shock, "What is going on with you today?" Jack questioned, his voice clearly exhausted.

Shock stood in the middle of the entry way with her arms crossed, stubbornly looking at the floor, trying to hold in the tears.

"Why are you so upset?" Sally asked softly, taking a few steps toward her.

"I'm not upset!" Shock screamed.

The eldest ex boogie boy continued to keep her arms crossed and gaze at the floor, but her chin was beginning to quiver. This had to be the worst day of her life. Why couldn't everyone just leave her alone and shut up?

Knowing she was about to break down and cry the little girl turned to go back upstairs to her room.

"Wait," Jack called firmly, "You're not going anywheres until you tell me and Sally what's going on."

Shock turned to the master of fright giving him a deadly glare, "If Lock can do whatever he wants, so can I," She growled, snapping her head back toward the stairs.

"Lock doesn't do whatever he wants," Jack explained.

Shock whipped her head back around to the pumpkin king, "That's a lie!" She yelled with furry, "He gets away with everything!" Her voice began to crack a bit and turn high pitched, "Actually when Lock does something wrong everyone praises him for it!" Tears started running down Shocks face, "He made me look like some pathetic moron that needed a bodyguard and no one cared! Everyone has just been siding with him after that happened and it's not fair to me!"

She continued to babble on, but the pumpkin king stopped listening after that just to take in and think about what she just told him. He didn't know she was so upset over what happened with Lock and Ethan yesterday, he honestly didn't think something like that would bother her. But he saw and understood her point. Jack felt a jolt of guilt. Shock was very independent, and when someone made her feel like she wasn't, of course it would upset her.

The pumpkin king interrupted her crying, sniffling, high pitched rant and knelled down to her level and pulled her into a hug, which stopped her babbling.

Despite Shocks anger, she didn't reject the hug. She didn't hug him back, but she was wasn't hating it either. After the horrible day she was having, it actually felt good to get a little bit of affection. Actually in her whole afterlife she couldn't remember one time but now someone actually giving her a hug. It felt...good.

After a couple more seconds, Jack pulled away from the hug and looked Shock right in her teary red eyes, "I didn't think for a moment it would upset you, and I am truly sorry Shock," The pumpkin king said sincerely, now taking his handkerchief and lightly wiping away her tears, "I didn't see it that way, but now I do and I understand."

"Good," Shock whimpered, trying to gain control over her emotions, but failing miserably. She would never admit it out loud, but it felt good to cry.

Sally came wobbling over, "Lock really had no intentions on hurting you Shock," She said lightly, knelling down beside Jack to face the little girl, "And he didn't mean to make you feel like you needed a bodyguard."

"I don't need a bodyguard," Shock said in her broken voice.

Sally ran a gentle hand on the side of the girls face, "I know that, and so does everyone else in Halloween town," The rag doll said in a soft and sweet voice.

"Not anymore," Shock sniffled, "Everyone in town thinks I'm a weak and pathetic moron."

Jack shook his head, "Not in a million years could anyone ever even get the idea that you are weak or pathetic, or a moron," The pumpkin smiled at her, "Did you see the fear you put in Locks eyes just a minute ago? Now that takes power," He chuckled, "I'm the master of fright and I can't even get Lock to do that."

Sally spoke up, "Or this morning, Barrel came running into the kitchen and sat in your spot just because you told him to."

Shock gave the couple a tiny grin, wiping away a few tears, "I guess," She sniffed, feeling a little bit better.

"So don't over think and worry so much when no one else even thought of it that way," The master of fright said in a calm soft voice.

"Okay," Shock said with a tiny nod, smiling a little more, "You two aren't gonna tell Lock and Barrel about this are you?"

The couple shook their heads.

"Course not," Sally said sweetly, now standing up straight, "So how about we just start this day over?" She said with a grin, and Shock nodded in agreement to that.

Lock quickly forgave Shock, and soon everything was back too normal.

All Jack and Sally could think after that huge blow up was thank the Halloween Gods. Unfortunately though for the couple, there were bigger issues with the towns people to resolve then there was with the trick or treaters...

 **Funny story, I actually had no idea where I was going with this chapter. I didn't even know what the plot was going to be for it, I just wrote. I felt like I needed to add a little more Shock in to the story, and this was really suppose to be Shocks chapter. Hope you enjoyed guys. Sorry it took so long, but like I've said before I am going to complete this, I promise I won't forget. I'm kind of running out of idea's to be honest lol. But it will be finished!**


	24. Chapter 20

**Over a month later, I finally completed this chapter. Once again I am really sorry. I have been working on this chapter for a really long time, just couldn't find the inspiration until like last week, and I just power wrote. Thank you to the guest person who said they were sending a fairy for me at night lol, that review really helped me realize I gotta finish this chapter. This chapter was actually completed 5 or 6 days ago, I just had to go over the grammar and stuff (which is the worst part for me, and you'll probably still find mistakes) And I tried to go over it on my day off but work wanted me to work, and I tried to power through my grammar Friday night, and then I left for vacation for three with my friends. BUT now it is finally finished, Yay! Please enjoy, and thank you for all the reviews on chapter 19!**

 **I don't owe anything to do with nightmare before Christmas.**

 _ **Chapter 20**_

A of couple days later everything at Skellington manor was pretty boring for the trick or treaters. Sally was frantically working on Lock and Barrels clothes for the ball, while Jack was rushing to get everything in order for the ball which was now two nights away.

The Pumpkin king still hadn't spoken to the Mayor since the meeting, and Jack wasn't sure exactly what was going to happen at the ball, when him, Sally, and the trick or treaters showed up, but the master of fright decided they had just as much right to be there as anyone else.

Jack poked his head in Sally's room, "Sally, I just have to in to town hall for a bit to fill out some papers."

Sally looked up at him and smiled, "Okay," She smiled, "If you're going to be there until Lunch I should be done everything by then, did you want to meet at spiral hill and have a picnic?"

"That's a lovely idea!" The pumpkin said excitedly.

"And umm Jack," Sally asked shyly.

"Yes?"

"Would it be alright if you brought Lock and Barrel with you. I just want to do a of couple things with Shock."

The pumpkin king just shrugged, "Yeah sure, I can drag them along."

And drag he almost resorted too. Lock and Barrel fought tooth and nail with Jack, refusing to go to town and how it wasn't fair that Shock didn't have to go.

"It's because she's a girl," Lock scowled, crossing his arms, refusing to move from the couch.

Jack patiently leaned against the living room entryway where Lock and Barrel were (Luckily Shock was upstairs).

"It's because I asked you to," The master of fright corrected politely, "Now come along, please."

"But why can't we stay here," Barrel whined.

"Because I asked you two to come with me in to town," Jack explained again for a second time, just as patient as the first.

"But why?" Barrel asked.

Lock raised an eyebrow, "Yeah Jack, why?" He challenged.

The pumpkin king was slowly starting to lose his calm, polite attitude. He has been trying to reason with them for the last 15 minutes and he didn't have anymore time to waste today, "Because I'm the adult, that's why," Jack said sharply, but still politely, "So unless you want me to take both or your hands and drag you both for everyone in town to see I would suggest getting ready to go because I'm leaving in five minutes, despite any protest."

Once Jack turned and left, Barrel wiggled out of his seat to get ready.

"You're such a baby," Lock spat, remaining in his seat with his arms crossed.

Barrel looked up at him, "Why?" He asked slightly hurt by the comment.

Lock rolled his eyes, "If Jack or Sally asked you to jump you'd ask how high."

"Sorry I don't want to get in trouble all the time like you," Barrel murmured back.

"I'm surprised they haven't bought you a highchair and crib, and spoon fed you and put you down for naps. Only little babies do what their told all the time," Lock continued to taunt.

"I'm not a baby," Barrel mumbled, truly hurt by his taunting.

"You're not going to cry are you?" Lock continued to mock.

"No," Barrel muttered, refusing to look at him. He hated when Shock wasn't around for Lock to bug because that always meant Barrel was Locks new target. Barrel was jealous of Shock actually, at least she could hold her own pretty good when it came to Lock. Barrel though knew he didn't stand a chance against either one of his older friends and it was usually best to just shut up and take it.

Before the five minutes were up, Lock did eventually pry himself off the sofa and got ready.

Jack and Zero walked in the front, and Lock and Barrel followed.

Barrel tried to keep up with the pumpkin kings pace, "Why do you need to go in to town anyways?" He asked, gazing up at the master of fright.

"Just some paperwork," Jack said, slowing down his pace a little to let Lock catch up. The pumpkin king shrugged, "It shouldn't take too long."

Lock rolled his eyes, "Then can we go back home- I mean the manor?"

The pumpkin king shook his head, "No, Sally wants to meet us at spiral hill for a picnic lunch."

"Sounds stupid," Lock murmured, with his arms crossed.

"Kind of like that attitude," The master of fright fired back with a smirk.

Lock was not at all amused, "Did you just call me stupid!" The devil boy growled, glaring up at Jack.

Jack just shook his head, "No, not at all. I said that attitude was stupid, not you."

"It's the same thing!" Lock snarled.

The master of fright raised and eye socket, "So then you just called me stupid as well, if we're going by your logic."

"I never said you were stupid."

"You said picnics were stupid," Jack pointed out, "So, you just called me stupid."

Lock looked at the pumpkin king for a long moment before rolling his eyes, "Whatever," the devil murmured spitefully.

Jack was tempted to rib at Lock a little more on his point, but decided against it. Since Lock already admitted defeat, which was rare. And plus, Lock more than likely wouldn't share the master of frights good humour on the topic.

Once they arrived to town hall, before going inside Jack turned to the two boys, "Stay away from the road," He lectured, while walking up the steps into the building, "Coats are to stay on, and stay where I can hear you and see you out the window," He gestured at their slingshots, "And no live targets."

Lock rolled his eyes, and Barrel had to admit he was tempted to do the same. How many times was Jack going to lecture them over the same things?

"Understood?" The pumpkin king questioned, eyeing the two ex boogie boys before going inside.

"We've only heard that lecture ten million times Jack," Lock blurted, clearly annoyed.

"Okay," Jack said calmly, "So do you understand the ten millionth and one time?" Barrel nodded reluctantly, but Lock just scowled, "Lock, have I made myself clear?"

"Sure, whatever," Lock grumbled, about to turn away, with Barrel ready to follow.

The master of fright sighed, "It may come to a shock to the two of you," He called before going inside, "But I'm not trying to be mean, there are reasons for my rules," He looked at them for a couple more seconds, "Just be safe," He warned softly before going inside, with Zero following him.

"Whatever," Lock growled, whipping his tail back and forth, "Who came back to life and made Jack the boss anyways?" The devil complained.

"Well he is the pumpkin king," Barrel suggested.

"Yeah, well wanna know what you are?" Lock barked back.

Barrel didn't really want to know, coming from Lock it usually wasn't anything pleasant.

Lock went on though anyways, which was no surprise to the youngest trick or treater, "You're some obedient little baby that can't even think for himself!"

"Why do you keep saying that?" Barrel asked, slightly annoyed, but mostly hurt. Lock clearly woke up on the wrong side of the bed today. And was just being a jerk because he could be, but it still didn't mean his words weren't hurtful. If Shock was around he'd take it all out on her, and she could fight him no problem, plus Shock usually favoured Barrels side when Lock was having one of his many mood swings. Barrel knew he was no match for Lock.

"Because it's the truth," Lock blurted.

Barrel turned away from his friend, crossing his arms, "Is not," He mumbled spitefully.

"Then prove it,"Lock taunted from behind him.

Barrel reluctantly turned to face Lock, who had a devious grin across his face...

Meanwhile Jack and Zero just entered the office. Zero went over to his bed in the corner, while Jack scrolled over to his seat, noticing a strange envelope.

He picked it up, eyeing it for a moment before deciding to open it up. Once he opened it up, the paper he pulled out said...

"Town Election."

Jack didn't like where this was going, but continued to read on.

The town is calling for an election to take place. It is decided by the town hall to call for an early election due to certain circumstances involving the present pumpkin king, Jack Skellington. The voting will be held at town hall at the end of the month. All adult residents of Halloween town must attend.-Thank you.

The master of fright was disgusted by such a letter! The town couldn't kick him out of office, could they...? Even so, who on earth could do Jack's job quite like he could? Jack had done so much for this town, how could they just turn their backs on him and drop him like old news? And how convenient the day of this election is also the day the boogie boys move back home. First thing this new pumpkin king will do is try to run them out of town! This was unfair, and completely wrong!

Jack tossed the paper in the trash, completely disgusted with what he just read. If this was how the town was going to act, then Jack decided he didn't want to be their pumpkin king anyways. If Halloween town wanted a new pumpkin king than fine with him! Him, Sally, Zero, Lock, Shock, and Barrel would have their own Halloween, and it would be ten times better then anything the town could do!

He rose from his chair and gazed out the window.

He did love this town. How could they betray him like this...?

"No way am I doing that Lock!" Barrel yelled.

"Awh come on you baby, all you have to do is run up and steal some candy, nothing too difficult."

"Jack would kill me if I stole from the witches!"

Lock frowned, but did agree with his friend. Shoot! Lock was really craving some gumballs to.

"Okay, sorry. That was a little too much. I was only kidding," The devil lied, "Okay here's one, take your coat off and put it in the middle of the road so someone will run over it."

"That's just stupid," Barrel grumbled, what would be the logic in ruining his only jacket?

"Okay fine," Lock snarled, actually agreeing that was kind of lame, and a stupid idea.

Barrel crossed his arms, slightly annoyed, "So much for you being tough. You can't even think of a single way for me to prove your stupid point."

"Shut up!" Lock barked, looking around trying to think of ideas. Shock was usually the one to come up with the ideas, so this was all new for the young devil.

He looked around for a couple more seconds, before he saw something that uncontrollably made his face scrunch up, "Ugh, there's that stupid Mayor," He complained, glaring in the direction of the market where the Mayor was shopping.

"I hate him," Barrel spat, now joining Lock, staring the Mayor down. That's when a perfect idea popped in Barrels mind, "Hey I got an idea," He said smirking at Lock, "If I hit him with my slingshot that will prove I'm not a baby, right?"

Lock looked at his younger friend for a moment, then over at Jack's office window. Hitting the mayor would prove his point, but was it worth Barrel getting caught? Then again, Jack was busy so he probably wouldn't see anything, plus the Mayor and him weren't on speaking terms, so being ratted out wasn't a problem. Besides Barrel never got in trouble by the pumpkin so he doubted even if he was caught, Jack wouldn't punish him. He favoured Barrel the most.

Lock smirked back at him, "That should do it," He nodded.

Barrel grinned deviously at his friend before picking up the biggest rock he could find. He turned back to the mayor's direction and aimed for his head. It was going to be a perfect bull's-eye. He was just about to let go of the string and shot, when something snatched the toy out of his hand.

Barrel turned, and almost jumped when he saw who confiscated his slingshot.

Jack who was clearly already annoyed, grabbed Barrels arm and marched him in to town mall, and straight into his office.

"What did I say about the slingshots?" Jack scowled, freeing Barrel's arm and closing his office door.

Barrel struggled to make eye contact with the pumpkin king, "No live targets," He said sheepishly.

The master of fright crossed his arms, not at all impressed, "So, you just decided to ignore one of my rules then?"

"It's just the mayor," Barrel blurted helplessly. He had no other way of explaining it. He knew he was in hot water with Jack either way.

"That isn't really the point Barrel," The master of fright explained trying to stay patience and calm, despite the horrible day he was already having.

The youngest trick or treater just shrugged, "Then what is the point?"

If Barrel hadn't understood the point on why it was a bad idea to slingshot rocks at people Jack supposed today would be a good day to get the message across. The pumpkin king picked up a chair and pulled it closer to his desk, "Sit right here," He ordered.

Barrel gazed up at Jack nervously. The pumpkin king only acted like this when Lock and Shock were around.

"I don't want to," He said, still fighting to make direct eye-contact with the pumpkin king.

"I'm not giving you the choice, now sit down please."

Barrel took a couple steps back and pressed himself against the wall, "Are you mad at me?" He asked shyly.

"Well I'm going to be honest Barrel, I'm not particularly pleased with your actions," Jack said calmly.

"What did I do?"

"You broke the rules," Jack explained simply, "I told you and Lock no live targets, and you were about to anyways." The pumpkin paused for a moment, "And like I've also said with every action there is a consequence."

"But I never hit him!" Barrel pointed out, not liking at all where this was going.

"Yes, but you were going to. And because you made the choice to break the rules, I think it's only fair to be punished for it," He gestured for the chair, "So come here, and sit down so we can get this over with."

"But I didn't do anything!" Barrel pleaded.

"You broke my rule," Jack said, still softly, but with a hint of being stern.

"But Jack-" Barrel whined.

The pumpkin king shook his head, "No buts. Now come sit down please."

Barrel unwillingly trudged over to the chair and took a seat.

Once he was seated Jack pulled out a sheet of paper, and a pen and wrote something down, and slide the paper in front of Barrel, with the pen beside it.

Barrel peaked at the paper.

It said-

 _ **Why rules are important**_

 _ **1)**_

 _ **2)**_

 _ **3)**_

 _ **4)**_

 _ **5)**_

"What's this?"

"Write down five reasons why my rules are important," The pumpkin king explained simply.

"But I can't spell that good!" Barrel whimpered.

"Try your best," Jack said softly.

Barrel looked at the piece of paper, then at Jack, "Why do I even have to do this?" He argued in frustration.

"I already told you why," The pumpkin king said, crossing him arms, leaning against his desk.

"This is just stupid!" Barrel complained, crossing his arms and slouching in his chair. Why was Jack being so mean? He never made Lock or Shock do this!

"It's not stupid," The master of fright corrected, "It's to teach you to follow the rules," He said firmly.

"But you're not making Lock do this!" Barrel whined.

"Lock didn't break the rules."

Barrel ignored that comment and spitefully tossed the pen and paper on the floor, "It's not fair!" He argued.

Jack was a little shocked by Barrel, and how he was acting. Perhaps the other two were rubbing off on him a little too much. Even so though, the youngest ex boogie boy rarely acted out. And when he did, it was when the other two were around. The pumpkin king didn't hold that against Barrel though. Barrel was a five-year old child after all, and even if he was usually well-behaved, it was only normal for children to misbehave every once an awhile.

The master of fright picked the paper and pen up, and placed it back on the desk in front of the child, only to have Barrel shove it off and onto the floor again.

Jack picked everything back up, but this time was a little more forceful when he placed it back in front of Barrel, and looked him right in the eye, "Don't do that again," The master of fright said sternly.

Barrel looked up at the pumpkin king with a terrified looked. He didn't care at this moment if he was being an obedient little baby like what Lock said. Like Barrel said earlier, he was no match for Lock, and the youngest ex boogie boy was for sure no match for Jack. Jack wasn't scary or mean like Lock or Shock were. The master of fright usually wasn't mean or scary at all. With that said though he did almost always win his battles against his older cohorts. When Jack was serious, you did what he asked.

Barrel pick up the pen and gazed at the paper. His mind completely blank on what to even write.

The master of fright took a seat at his desk, gazed out the window for a couple seconds to see if Lock was okay. He then turned to Barrel, who was blankly looking at the sheet of paper. He felt guilty over it, and second guessed if maybe the punishment was a little too harsh. He tried to shake that thought though. If he gave in now, all the child would learn is that if you sit there and look sad, Jack would give in to it.

He turned back to his work for the ball, glancing over at Barrel every couple minutes.

Meanwhile at home Sally had sent Shock to go try on her new dress.

Shock stared at herself in the mirror, starstruck by how flawless her gown was. It was long and straight, which was just what she wanted. The top part was a silk purple sweat heart neckline, with thin black lace spaghetti straps. It glowed with the purple glitter and the sequence of purple beads that Sally covered the top part of the dress with. And then there was the bottom part. It was a pattern, first a black lace ruffle, then a sparkly silk purple ruffle, and so on and so on. It was the prettiest thing Shock had ever seen in her life, let alone own! She never felt so beautiful until she gazed up and looked at her face.

Looking at her reflection made her want to rip the dress of her. She was too ugly for such a beautiful gown. This gown deserved better than her...

"Shock?" Sally called, knocking on the little girls bedroom door, "Can I come in?"

"Yeah," Shock mumbled.

The rag doll came stepping in the room, "Oh Shock! You look absolutely stunning!" Sally took a few steps closer, with a huge smile of pride, "Does it fit okay?"

"Yeah," Shock murmured again.

Sally scanned the girls face, and soon the rag dolls excited smile faded, "Is there something wrong?" She questioned, "Do you not like the dress?"

Shock blankly-eyed the dress in the mirror, "I love the dress," She said honestly, "It's the prettiest thing I've ever seen."

Sally walked behind the girl and looked at her reflection, putting a hand on Shocks shoulders, "Then what's a matter?" She asked softly.

Shock tugged at her tangled hair, "My hair," She said, pulling it down by her shoulders, "It's not like yours," She let go of her hair, and insistently it returned to its curly, wildly placed state.

Sally gave her a small smile, "Well I could do something with it," The rag doll said, running her fingers through Shocks hair, "We could do a trail run, just to see if you like it, would you like to do that?"

Shock was unsure. Doing her hair all up would be kind of too girly, wouldn't it? On the other hand, the boys weren't around to see, so what could a trail run hurt with just Sally?

Shock shrugged, "Sure, why not."

Back at Jack's office, Barrel was struggling to write something down. The youngest ex boogie boy felt a little overwhelmed, and the fears of being disliked by Jack returned to his mind. He didn't want the pumpkin king to hate him, even if Jack was kind of being a bully at the moment.

Barrel gazed down at his punishment that he still hadn't started yet. He supposed it was better then getting a mouthful of soap like what happened to Lock, but at least with Locks punishment, he got it over with pretty fast.

The youngest trick or treater gazed out the window. It was so nice outside. He'd be stuck in here all day! This really wasn't fair. This punishment was too hard, and unfair!

Barrel set his pen down and slouched in his chair, with his arms crossed, pouting. In the hopes of getting Jack to lift the punishment, and if he played his cards right get an apology from the master of fright for being mean for no reason at all.

"Pouting isn't going to get anything written down," The pumpkin king pointed out, looking at the child.

The child gazed back up at the adult, that wasn't at all the attention he was hoping for. He didn't even see any kind of sympathy or guilt on Jack's face. All Barrels hopes of getting out of this punishment were crushed right then and there.

He pouted for a couple more seconds, before reaching to pick his pen back up and gaze at the sheet of paper set in front of him. What was he even supposed to write? He couldn't think of one reason, let alone five!

He turned and looked out the window, at the beautiful sunny day he was missing, then turned back to his almost blank piece of paper, in hopes something was magically written on the page, but to no surprise nothing was completed.

 _'This is all Locks fault_ ,' Barrel thought to himself spitefully _. 'If Lock would have just cut it out with calling me a baby I wouldn't be here right now,'_ Barrel continued to remind himself. _'Lock could be a bully and get away with it, but aim a rock at someones head, and Jack hates your guts,'_ The youngest ex boogie boy cringed at that thought. Would if Jack really did hate him for sure now?

The youngest trick or treater glanced up once again at Jack, who looked uninterested, and even maybe a little mad while writing something down that Barrel assumed was some pumpkin king work for next Halloween. But why would the pumpkin king look so frustrated while working on what was supposed to be the best holiday ever? Maybe it wasn't the work, maybe it was the fact Barrel was in the master of frights presents. And because Jack disliked Barrel so much, he couldn't help but be angry and annoyed, by even being near him.

' _That had to be it!'_ Barrel screamed in his head. _'Jack hates my guts! And its Locks fault-'_ , The ex boogie boy paused at that thought, remembering that it was in fact his own idea to shoot the mayor with his slingshot. It wasn't Lock's fault, not really. It was all Barrel's fault!

Swirled with emotions, knowing he messed up big time now, Barrel struggled with how to really cope with this new information that Jack really did dislike the little boy. Overwhelmed with all the thoughts going on inside his head, the little five year old could not handle so much at once. And tears began to seep from his eyes, as he continued to stare blankly at his sheet of paper.

The master of fright heard small, sad sniffles from the other side of the table. He looked up from his work, and he felt his heart sink at the sight. Barrel, with his elbows on the table, holding the pen in his right hand, and his chin in his left, staring down at his homework, with tears running down his little cheeks.

The pumpkin king was filled with guilt. He was tempted now to give in. Maybe the punishment was to harsh. He gazed down at the assignment he had given the boy, noticing nothing was written down. The pumpkin wasn't asking for an essay from the child, but he wanted to at least see him try.

"What's wrong Barrel?" Jack asked, in a soft, sympathetic tone.

"Nothing," Barrel squeaked quickly, not wanting to annoy the pumpkin king even more.

The master of fright knew that was a lie, "Don't overthink it," Jack said, trying to encourage Barrel best he could, "I'm not asking for long answers."

"But I can't think of anything," Barrel muffled, refusing to look up at Jack, in a tearful sad voice.

The pumpkin king was at a loss at what to exactly do. It was easy to follow through with discipline when kids mouthed off or talked back like Lock, and Shock. Tear's though. That was the master of frights weak spot. But he couldn't give in, as badly as he wanted to, he just couldn't yet.

Jack leaned forward in his seat, "Well think of some of the rules, why do you think I have the rules I have?"

Barrel just shrugged, still not looking up at the pumpkin king.

The master of fright gave the boy a tiny, weak smile, "What's the rule about the slingshots?"

"No live targets," The child muffled.

"And why do you think live targets might be a bad idea?" Jack asked lovingly.

It was quiet for a moment, before Barrel answered, "Because you could hurt someone," The child sniffled, now glancing up at Jack, with big tearful red eyes.

The pumpkin king nodded proudly, and pointed at Barrel's homework, "Then write that down."

Barrel sniffled a couple times before he spoke, "Write what down?" He questioned, in a low, still sad voice.

The master of fright chuckled lightly, "What you just said, about not having live targets."

"Hurt someone?" Barrel squeaked.

Jack nodded.

"How do you spell hurt?" Barrel asked quietly.

"H-U-R-T."

Barrel wrote down the word, and glanced back up at Jack.

The master of fright smiled, "Someone, S-O-M-E-O-N-E."

The youngest ex boogie boy wrote down the word, and Jack looked proudly at him, "Good job," The pumpkin king praised, "One done, just four more to go." He paused for a moment, "Why do you think I make you keep your coat on when your outside?"

Barrel shrugged, his eyes were still red, but the tears had stopped, "Because it's cold outside, something," He barely whispered.

The master of fright raised an eye socket, "And what happens when you get too cold?"

"You get sick?" Barrel questioned.

Jack nodded at the little boys answer.

"Can I write that down?"

Jack nodded again.

"How do you spell get?" Barrel questioned, his mood turning around all ready.

The pumpkin king took this opportunity to give the kid a small spelling lesson, "You tell me," Barrel looked confused, so Jack went on, "Get, Ga-ee-tt

"J?" Barrel questioned.

The master of fright shock his head, "No that's Jah, what is Ga?"

Barrel thought about it for a long moment before answering, "Is it G?"

"Very good, how about the next letter, Ee? I'll give you a hint, it's a vowel."

"What's a vowel?" Barrel questioned innocently.

Jack was a little shocked that the child did not know. He supposed Oogie never bothered to teach them much about spelling and reading, but still. Jack never realized how little the ex boogie boys knew when it came to this particular stuff. Sure Shock could read, but the master of fright decided that after today, more reading, and spelling lessons should be instilled on the trick or treaters. Perhaps make Barrel take turns reading goosebumps, and allow Shock to read more frequently. Jack had no idea how to try and teach Lock, but he was now determined to think of some possible way.

After going over some more of Jack's rules, and helping Barrel spell, and sound out words, he finally had his assignment completed. The ex boogie boy passed the sheet of paper to Jack.

 _ **Why rules are important**_

 _ **Hu RT**_ SoMEoNe

gET sIck

gE T HIT bY cAR

NoT TIR Ed

s o wE AR E sAfE

Jack smiled at the sweet, childish attempt, before turning his attention to Barrel, "Very good," The pumpkin king said honestly, "Now let me quiz you, 1) Why is it important to follow my no live target rule with the slingshots?"

Barrel's face lite up, now knowing the answer, "Because you could hurt someone!" He answered, excitedly.

"Perfect," Jack said, marking a little check mark beside his first answer, "And why is my jacket rule outside important?"

"Because we could get sick!"

The master of fright continued to smile, making another little check mark, "And why can't you play on the road?"

"We could get hit by a car!"

"Wonderful, and why do you have a bedtime?"

Barrel cringed at that one, despite the sense it made, he still disliked it, "So we're not tired," He said, a little less enthusiastic with his answer.

The pumpkin king chuckled to himself before continuing, "And why should you always let me and Sally know where you are, and stay close to where we can see and hear you?"

"So we are safe!" Barrel said finally, with a tiny, shy grin.

Jack made a fifth and final check mark, "Very, very, very nicely done Barrel," He praised, sliding the paper back over to the boy, "I am very proud of you, you did an excellent job."

Barrel pick up his paper and looked at it blankly, then looked up at Jack, "I did?" The pumpkin king nodded, but Barrel was confused, "So you're not mad at me anymore?"

"I wasn't mad in the first place," The master of fright said brightly, picking up Barrel's slingshot and handing it back to the child, "I wasn't exactly happy, but I wasn't mad at you, and you've redeemed yourself. Just please don't try and aim at someone ever again."

Barrel took his toy, and continued to stare at Jack, confused, "So you don't hate me?" The child questioned shyly.

That question threw Jack for a loop, how could Barrel think for even a second that the pumpkin king hated him? How was that even a possibility?

"Of course I don't hate you! Why in the world would you ever think that?"

Barrel just shyly shrugged, but that wasn't a good enough answer for the master of fright.

"Is it something that I have done? Because if it is, I really want to know," Jack almost begged, desperate for an answer. The punishment was to harsh. He knew it!

The ex boogie boy shook his head, now not looking at the master of fright again.

"Then why would you think I hated you?" The master of fright asked, trying not to show how overwhelmed he was. Barrel shrugged again, "Are you sure it isn't something I've done?" Jack asked again.

Barrel nodded, "It's not you," He finally managed to muffle.

"Then what is it?" The master of fright asked softly, rolling his chair over beside Barrel.

The youngest trick or treats eyes stayed solidly on the desk, "I'm sorry I tried to hit the mayor," He mumbled, sadness in his voice returning once again.

"That's okay, you've learned your lesson."

Barrel nodded, "Yeah," He sniffled, "I shouldn't have done it in the first place, it was a dumb idea," He murmured, wiping the tears from his eyes, "I don't care if Lock calls me names."

Jack raised an eye socket, "What did he call you?"

Barrel frowned, and put his knees by his chest, "He kept calling me a baby."

"Why?"

"He said I couldn't think for myself, and wanted me to prove to him I wasn't a baby," Barrel sniffed for a moment, "So, I came up with the idea to shoot the mayor with my slingshot to prove to Lock I wasn't," Barrel shrugged, "But then I got caught, and you looked really mad at me, and-" He stammered shyly, "And it was my idea, so I guess I thought you hated me... Because I broke a rule."

Jack lifted Barrel chin with one hand so he'd look him in the eye, "I could never, ever hate you," The master of fright said sincerely, "Not even if you broke 100 billion of my rules, I still wouldn't hate you. I care about you very, very much," Jack smiled lightly, "You're like family to me."

"Really?" Barrel asked, wiping his teary eyes.

"Really," The master of fright said sincerely, "And don't listen to Lock, just ignore him. All he wants is a charge out of you, and once I catch him in the act he'll be in trouble for it, trust me."

"I just don't know why Lock has to be so mean sometimes," Barrel frowned, "Him and Shock are really bossy and mean sometimes," The small child folded his arms, "When they team up together it's the worst. I can't even defend myself against one of them, let a lone both."

The master of fright lowered his hand from the boys chin, but continued to look at him, "Has it been bad lately?"

Barrel shook his head, "Not terrible, it was mostly at the tree house," He paused for a moment, "Things are a lot different at the tree house, then they are at your house."

"How so?" The pumpkin king questioned, now very interested in the boys answers.

"Your house is cleaner, and there's always food, and I like Sally's cooking over Shocks," Barrel shrugged, "I even like my room better at your house then the one at the tree house, the beds at your house are comfier, things don't creak in your house like they do the tree house, and plus the tree house

is really cold, and your house is always warm," Barrel stared down at the floor, "I mean sure, even when Oogie was around we could do whatever we wanted, but he was really mean most of the time. When he was gone things were better," Barrel looked around the room, then leaned in towards Jack, "You won't tell Lock or Shock this if I tell you right?" The youngest trick or treater whispered, looking right at the pumpkin king.

Jack nodded.

"I like your house better," Barrel whispered.

The master of fright was happily surprised by that. He hadn't exacted to hear that!

"Really?" Jack questioned excitedly.

Barrel nodded, "But you can't tell Lock, or Shock!"

Jack smiled brightly, "I won't, I promise."

Meanwhile, back at the manor, Sally was just taming Shocks final section of hair into a nice and loose spiral ringlet, to match the rest of her beautifully now styled hair.

"Okay," Sally was softly, "You can open your eye's now!"

Shock blinked her eyes open, and looked at her reflection in the mirror, a little unsure what to think. She never noticed that her shaggy unruly hair was so long, even when it was curled it was past her shoulders. She adored how her hair looked actually, and with the dress, it was the icing on the cake! Thought she didn't look or feel like much of a boogie boy anymore, and the thing that bothered her was, she preferred this more girly appearance. Not that she would ever admit that.

"I like it," Shock said with a shy smile, while lightly touching her styled hair, "Can you do this for the ball?"

"Of course I can," The rag doll said excitedly, running a hand through Shocks hair, "You're going to be prettiest girl there Shock, I can promise you that!"

"Yeah," Shock said, trying not to blush while she admired herself in the mirror, "But won't people make fun of me?"

Sally looked at Shocks reflection in the mirror, "Why on earth would anyone make fun of you?"

Shock pulled at one of her curls, "Everyone will think I'm a girl."

The rag doll struggled not to grin, "Well Shock, you are a girl."

"Yeah," Shock tried to explain, "But you know how like Lock, and Barrel get. They'll start calling me a girly girl again and make fun of me."

Sally raised an eyebrow, "And you're so worried about what they will think?"

The little girl shook her head, "No I don't care, but I still don't want them thinking I'm this little sissy."

"Everyone knows you're not a sissy," Sally put a hand on each of Shocks shoulders. The rag doll watched as Shock was struggling to admire herself in the mirror, "It's okay to feel pretty you know," Sally said softly.

Shock flinched, "Yeah I know," She lied.

"Do you like the way you look?"

Shock nodded, "I do," She said reluctantly, "Really I do, but I shouldn't."

"Why not?"

Shock shrugged, "A boogie boy can't look like this, it's just not me, you know? I'm not supposed to look like a girly girl, I'm supposed to look tough."

Sally spun the little girl around, and knelled down to her level, with her hands still on her shoulders, "It's okay to step out of the box and try something new. Does dressing up and looking like this make you happy?"

Shock nodded.

"Then do what makes you happy, and don't worry about anyone else," Sally said, "As long as you are happy that's all that really matters, and if you come to find out you'd prefer not to look this way, that's okay too, but for now, you love the dress and the hair, and I think you look absolutely stunning, so don't worry about anything because no matter what people say or think, you still look beautiful either way."

Shock tried, but failed miserably to hold back her stupid, flattered looking smile. No one ever called her beautiful before. It felt good for once to actually look sort of pretty...

Back in town, Barrel came busting threw the door of town hall and ran around as fast as he could to enjoy the nice day. Jack was close behind him, on a mission to find Lock.

Lock had spend what seemed like forever outside all by himself, and felt like he was dying of boredom decided to lay in the grass and look up at the clouds. He was just gazing up at one that he thought looked just like someone ripping another person's throat out, when a huge shadow fell over him.

"Hey what's the big idea!" Lock complained, now sitting up, glaring at Jack.

"I need to talk to you," The pumpkin king said sternly.

Lock rolled his eyes, apparently you could get in trouble for doing absolutely nothing.

Jack looked sharply at the boy, knelling down to his level, "Do you remember that incident we had a couple weeks ago, with the soap?"

Lock nodded, how he could anyone forget something so horrible?

"And do you remember me saying that anymore rude or unnecessary comments from your mouth and I won't hesitate to do it again?"

The young devil just crossed his arms, and refused to make eye contact with Jack.

That didn't phase the pumpkin king though, "Well just to remind you name calling counts as something rude and unnecessary. This is your first and final warning Lock, if I hear you call Barrel a baby, or any kind of name, or for that matter call anyone a rude name you know the consequences."

"That baby thing was just a joke," Lock tried to explain, in hopes of getting out of trouble.

"I don't care," Jack said sharply, "It hurt Barrel's feelings, and I want you to apologize."

"I'm just trying to toughen the kid up a little bit, is that so wrong?"

"We already had this talk Lock, you're older than him, and I expect you to be a role model to him, not a bully."

Locks was insulted by that comment, "Here you are telling me not to call people names, and you just called me a bully!" The devil boy argued.

Jack took a deep breath, "Lock," He said, trying to be more calm, "When you hurt someones feelings by calling them a name, yet you keep doing that I would call that acting like a bully, wouldn't you?"

Lock shrugged, "Maybe, but we're friends, I didn't think he would take it so personally."

"But he did," Jack corrected.

Lock turned away from Jack, unsure on what to really say, or do.

"Lock," Jack said in a softer voice, "I'm not saying you're a bully, I'm just asking you to be a little more careful about what you say."

"Sorry," The young devil murmured back spitefully. Why did Jack always have to be on his case all the time?

"Well can you try, for me?" Jack said so carefully, like his words could break.

Lock turned back to the master of fright, with a deadly glare, "And what's in it for me?"

The pumpkin king shrugged, "Well you won't have a mouthful of soap," Jack said in good humour, but Lock didn't take it that way, and continued to glare at him. "Okay, okay," Jack said, trying to lighten the mood, "You go a whole week without saying anything mean, I'll give you a cup of coffee."

Lock wasn't convinced, "That's it?" He said. Thought he enjoyed coffee, seven days of hard work for one cup of coffee seemed like a rip-off.

The master of fright nodded, "Yep, and it's a lot better than your first deal, which is be nice or be punished, don't you think?"

Lock scowled, "I guess," He growled, "but if I gotta change then I think you have to, to!"

"I'm not asking you to change who you are," Jack said.

"Just hear me out," Lock said in an annoyed voice, "If I can't say mean things anymore, then you can't be a hypocrite and break your own rules all the time, and no more of that 'because I'm an adult excuse' either. Either give me an actual reason when I can't do something that you can, or," Lock smirked to himself, "If you can't, then you lose all coffee for the next day, and after my week I get that extra cup of coffee that you lost," He paused for a minute, but continued to grin to himself, "I mean just to make things interesting, do we have a deal?" He extended a hand to Jack.

Jack was a little unsure on what to do. Making a deal with a devil never seemed like a particularly wise thing to do, even if it was just a small six year old demon, on the other hand, perhaps if Jack did follow through with the deal, Lock may trust and respect him more.

"Alright," Jack finally decided, shaking his hand, "It's a deal, but one rude thing comes out of your mouth and the deal is off, understood?"

Lock nodded. He always enjoyed a challenge. Thought this one would be far too easy. All the young devil had to do was replace his mean words with nice ones. It would be like making fun of people to their faces, but in his own special code. Piece of cake.

"Wonderful," The master of fright said, now freeing Locks hand, "Now how about you say you're sorry to Barrel?"

Lock apologized to Barrel. Barrel thought he was going to die from shock hearing Lock actually say he was sorry over something. Flattered, Barrel easily forgave his friend. And everyone went on with their day, until it got to be lunchtime and Jack, Zero, Lock, and Barrel headed to spiral hill to meet up with the girls.

"They're late!" Lock complained, while leaning against a headstone, with his arms crossed, and tapping his foot.

"Just be patient," Jack said softly, while looking around the graveyard, trying to think of something the boys could do to amuse themselves with while waiting, "See if you can hit that flag pole over there," The pumpkin king pointed out.

"I wanna try first!" Barrel shouted excitedly, picking up a rock, and aiming for the target with his slingshot, but missing terribly.

Jack took a seat in the grass to watch, and clapped, "Very nice try Barrel," He applauded, while Zero floated beside him, "Your turn Lock."

Lock picked up a rock, and aimed for the target, and missed just by an inch, "Darn-it!" He grumbled.

The master of fright cheer him on, "You almost hit it," He praised.

"My turn! My turn!" Barrel yelled excitedly, snatching a rock and aiming for the target. His shot was better than his first, but he still missed.

"Would someone stop throwing those blasted rocks at me!" A cranky, yet familiar voice yelled.

Out behind a bush, close to where the flag pole was, doctor Finklestein and his new apparent wife appeared.

The doctor did not look overly pleased, and was holding the side of his head, complaining about the pain as he and his wife approached.

Barrel looked helplessly at Jack, "It was an accident!" The youngest child cried out, to explain himself. He didn't want to get in trouble for a second time today.

"It's okay," The master of fright whispered getting up from his seat, "I know, don't worry about it."

Barrel looked at the expression on the doctors face, and though the pumpkin king told him it was okay, it certainly didn't look to be okay for the crazy, old man. And not overly wanting to get run over by his wheelchair, Barrel hid behind Jack for protection.

Lock also took a couple steps back. The doctor was someone to be feared. Not because he was tough or anything, but anyone who could make a creepy wife that looked like a female vision of himself, only the Halloween Gods know what doctor Finklestein would do to a of couple kids that got on his bad side. The trio put him in a neck brace once, and he threatened to sow their heads together. The fact he could actually do that frighten the trick or treaters, and they slept with one eye open for a week afterwards, and avoided him at all costs. He was a nut case on wheels, in Locks opinion anyways.

"Doctor!" Jack waved happily, "It's such a pleasure to see you, forgive me for the rocks, I just wanted to see how well the boys here could aim for that pole over there!" The pumpkin king explained brightly.

"Well I think they need some work!" The doctor growled, eyeing Lock, and then Barrel.

"It was my fault," Jack explained, "My sincere apologies."

The doctor smiled, and creepy enough when he smiled, his wife mimicked his grin, which freaked both Lock, and Barrel out. She was like a clone...

"Oh Jack, I couldn't stay mad at you," The doctor said, and appeared to be in a better mood, "This old head has been through worse."

"Never the less, I think I should make up for the abuse you endured on my account. Sally should be arriving any moment with a picnic lunch, and it would be my greatest pleasure if you and your-" Jack glanced at the Mrs. Finklestein. Even the pumpkin king had to admit, she kind of freaked him out, "Your lovely wife joined us," Jack finally finished.

"We won't want to impose-"

"Not at all!" Jack said, happy as ever, "It would be a pleasure! The more the merrier I always say!"

Barrel walked over beside Lock, "What are they talking about?" Barrel whispered to his older friend. Impose, endured, and account were too fancy and big words for the five-year old.

"Jack's inviting them to join us for lunch," Lock whispered back, sounding extremely displeased. Had Jack lost his mind, or was he always crazy?

"He can be nice," Barrel whispered back, "His wife freaks me out though."

"What are you two birdbrains talking about?" A familiar voice said.

Lock and Barrel both turned, and were shocked at what they saw.

"Your hair-" Barrel said, unsure on what to really say about Shocks, strange, styled hairdo.

"What happened to it?" Lock questioned, squinting, just to make sure what he was seeing was real.

"Sally did it for me!" Shock barked back defensively, "Gotta problem with it?"

Barrel shook his head nervously, so Shock narrowed in on Lock, waiting for some kind of answer or opinion.

Lock most certainty had an opinion on how she looked. He thought she looked ridiculous, and disgustingly girly, and any other day he would have flat out told her that, but he couldn't now. Not for another week at least. He'd ruin his deal with Jack before things even got interesting.

"Your hair looks umm-" He was trying to think of the right word, but not sound to sappy at the same time, "Nice," He finally decided on. There was nothing wrong with the word nice, was there?"

Shock narrowed in on Lock, "Are you making fun of me?" She growled, getting in his face. Lock never said anything nice to anyone, this had to be a new method of mocking he was trying, and Shock was having none of it.

"No, not at all," Lock said, taking a few steps back. He was at a loss at what to do, he couldn't insult her, and he couldn't hit her, "I said your hair was nice! So just shut up and take the compliment you stup-" Lock stopped himself. He couldn't even call her stupid! Curse Jack and his stupid rules, and that stupid deal!

The young devil tried to think fast on how to save himself, "Stupendous!" He finally decided on, "Stupendous witch!"

Shock was not impressed, or amused one bit. He had to be making fun of her in some twisted way, "Stop that!" Shock yelled, poking at Lock's chest.

"Stop what?" The devil argued back.

"Stop making fun of me like that!" Shock hissed, poking at his chest a little harder, just to really make him mad.

Barrel took a couple steps back to watch the fight unfold.

Lock was becoming very frustrated with Shock, very, very quickly. Really, you try and be nice and she still gets mad!

"All I did was give you a complement, two, actually!" He snarled.

That did not ease Shocks anger though, and her pokes at the chest became even more powerful, and almost even shoves.

"Cut it out Shock!" Lock yelled, taking her hand that kept trying to now push him, and wrapped his tail around it, to try and stop her.

"You cut it out!" Shock yelled, trying to rip away from his tight grasp on her wrist, "And stop making fun of me!"

"I wasn't making fun of you!"

"Yes you were!"

"No I-"

Lock was cut off by another voice.

"Ahh," Doctor Finkestein said in a nice, breezy voice, "Young love."

It was hard to tell whose face went more white, Lock, or Shocks. And soon both of their cheeks blushed a burning red with torturing embarrassment.

Barrel really did try his best not to burst out laughing, but a small did slip through his lips.

Sally and Jack both bit as hard as they could on their lips not to smile, but both of them had to turn away and cover their mouths for a couple seconds...

 **I hope everyone enjoyed my newest chapter. Honestly, I really enjoy this chapter, the ending is my favourite lol. I feel like this chapter is going to be a hit or a miss, for me and hopefully most of you it was that hit you've been waiting over a month for, if it was a miss, I apologize. I have an idea for my next chapter, I'm not going to make any promises that it'll be done in a week, but I am really going to try. If you haven't noticed yet this story is coming to a end, and I hope to wrap things up soon. I'm planning for the ending to be at the most 4 chapters away. This story is 206 pages long which is a lot longer then I planned for it to be. To be honest I planned this to be 10,000 to 20,000 words long, and only maybe 12 chapters, which I am way off from XD. But I'm looking forward to starting the sequel. Thank you so much, and I am so sorry about the wait. I really hoped you enjoyed it and I will see you all soon. Like I'm promised before, I still promise to all my readers that this story will be completed. :)**


	25. Chapter 21 part one

**I'm so sorry this chapter is late being posted. I am involved with a town flea market (which is a huge deal for my small town every year) And for the last 4 days I've been in the burning heat, rain, and dirt, selling and looking and buying junk from about 8-8:30am to 8 at night. I love it but I'm tried now. I really tried to post this chapter before hand, but it just didn't work out.**

 **Thank you everyone for all the wonderful reviews and please enjoy! I don't own anything to do with nightmare before Christimas.**

 _ **Chapter 21 part one.**_

Lock and Shock stayed quiet for the rest of lunch. They even made Barrel sit between them, just to avoid any extra awkwardness, as if eating with the doctor and his wife wasn't bad enough.

Jack secretly cursed himself for inviting the doctor and his wife to lunch. And he finally understood the kids disgust with the whole, how did they word it, "kissy kissy stuff?" The pumpkin king was all for the doctor finding or in his case creating someone he was happy with, but did he really need to make googly eyes, and whisper in her ear, and rub her leg this certain way, or lick her neck in front of everyone while they were trying to eat? It was just disturbing.

It was too much of a sight for Lock, Shock and Barrel, and they just barely touched the food on their paper plates. They wanted tell the doctor and his misses to cut it out, but Lock and Shock both feared he'd make more comments about them being in love, which was more gross, plus none of the ex boogie boys wanted to make him mad at them again.

After one big smooth, Doctor Finkestein turned to the pumpkin king, "So Jack," The master of fright unwillingly looked up, while having a drink of ice-tea,"When do you and Sally plan on giving me and my lovely misses a grandchild?"

Jack choked on his ice-tea over such a comment, and Sally's checks went the same shade of red that Lock and Shock had went earlier.

"Don't you have to be married to have a kid?" Barrel asked innocently.

"Yes," Jack chocked before the doctor had a chance to answer.

"Well then, when is the wedding Jack?" The doctor went on.

Sally couldn't make eye contact with anyone, and secretly hoped the ground would spit apart from underneath her so she wouldn't have to listen to this conversation any longer.

Jack was hoping for something similar, but with an audience, he knew he had to say something. He chuckled, trying to cover up how uncomfortable he really was, "When we figure that out, you'll be the first one to know Doctor." The pumpkin king prayed he would get the hint, but Jack couldn't be so lucky.

"You two already live together," The doctor pointed out, "So what's the holdup?"

All the trick or treaters now stared at Jack, and Jack thought for sure they were burning holes threw him. The pumpkin king just shrugged, "We're just enjoying what we have together for right now."

"A trail run with three? Well I suppose that would keep your hands rather busy," He turned to Sally, and then turned to Jack, "But trust me, it'll be a lot different when it's your own three."

"Well to be honest with you doctor, we've kind of viewed Lock, Shock, and Barrel as our own," Sally said warmly.

The master of fright nodded in agreement, "We've enjoyed their company very much," He added hoping to maybe change the topic of marriage.

"I'm not calling Jack and Sally mom and dad," Shock whispered to her two friends.

"Well I'm not calling the old guy grandpa," Lock added.

"Which one?" Barrel questioned, which got a snicker from his two older friends.

The doctor went on, "Well I remember when Sally was just a couple stitches off the old felt, I tell you Jack she was a handful! Always poisoning me and running off," He smiled at the memories, "But it was fun though," He turned to Sally, "My pride and joy."

Sally shyly smiled back. The doctor was that guy that Sally never overly respected or listened to, but she still couldn't help but like him and view him as family. He was the only parent she ever had. He wasn't great, but he wasn't terrible. She was actually kind of touched that the doctor would say she was his pride and joy, even after all the misery she put him through.

The doctor went on, "For your sake Jack, I hope you have a daughter one day, it's the most precious thing to have."

Without even thinking Lock snorted, and rolled his eyes. Who wanted more girls in the world? There was already too many!

"Something funny?" The doctor questioned.

"Nothing," Lock said sheepishly, noticing the master of fright eyeing him.

Doctor Finklstein turned back to Jack and Sally, "They're so young now, but in the blink of an eye they will be all grown up, let's hope they're not married with children before you two are!" Before Jack and Sally's cheeks could burn, the doctor felt the need to go on, "Why these two here," He gestured to Lock, and Shock, "Will probably be planning their wedding before you two!"

The two oldest trick or treaters face was 20 times more red then Jack, and Sally's could ever be. And both them had their fists clinched with anger.

Lock glanced over at Shock, him married to her? Yeah, he'd rather gouge his own eyes out of his head!

Shock was thinking the same thing, him and her together? She'd rather rip her own throat of then be married to someone so gross. The doctor really had to be crazy. Who could ever think that Shock would sink so low to be married to such a moron?

The doctor lifted his wife's chin, "I waited no time to make you mine my love," He said, linking her nose, and then began giving her a huge, and long smooch on the lips.

The ex boogie boys all tried to hold it in, but all them felt like they were going to gag up the tiny bit of lunch they did eat.

Jack had noticed, and decided it wasn't fair that everyone had to suffer through this torture of a lunch.

He lightly grabbed Shocks hand, "Here," He whispered, placing some money in her palm, "Go get ice-cream, or cotton candy or something, there is enough for you and the boys, just stay close by," He glanced over at the make out session, "But you don't have to stay too close."

Shock understood the hint, and leaped up from her seated possession and gestured for her friends to follow. The trio soon hurried off to go get some ice-cream.

"Umm, doctor," Sally said quietly, to try and break up the uncomfortable kissing.

Lucky it did work, "Oh I apologize Sally," He said politely. It was quite for a moment before the doctor spoke up, "So how is your experiment going anyways with the three little ones?"

"A little too good," Sally admitted shyly, "We really don't want them to leave."

"We kind of gotten attached," Jack added, sounding a little upset. He hated being reminded that they weren't staying forever.

"Well perhaps they can stay with you, if corpse dad wins the election," The doctor said.

Both Sally and Jack raised and eyebrow, but it was Jack who spoke first, "Corpse dad is running to be the next pumpkin king?"

"Jack?" Sally asked, "What are you talking about?"

"The town is calling for an early election to find a new pumpkin king," The doctor explained, "The town talked about it after you walked out on that meeting a couple nights ago actually. I tried to defend you best I could my boy," The elder man shrugged, "But who would listen to an old man like me?"

"You can't be serious!" Sally shirked, as loud as her quiet voice could go.

The doctor nodded, "Quite serious my dear, even stated that if he wins, he'll go through with knocking down the tree house," He shrugged, "The rest of the town seemed to enjoy that idea, I myself found it rather barbaric."

"They can't do that!" Sally said, mortified.

"The pumpkin king can," The doctor said, gesturing to Jack, "I'm not sure if you have gotten the voicemail from the Mayor yet Jack, but they are calling for a debate, or some sort of meeting tomorrow night at town hall. I think it would be wise if both you and Sally attended," He shrugged, "Like I said, I'm simply to old for anyone to pay me much attention, but you two may have a better chance in atleast redeeming yourselves."

"But what am I suppose to say?" The master of fright asked helplessly.

The doctor shrugged, "You're already in hot water Jack, so really anything I'm sure would be a lot better then nothing. It is a lot better then not showing up, actually you are obligated to go."

The master of fright sighed, "What time is it?"

"Tomorrow night, at 6 o'clock sharp."

"We can't leave Lock, Shock, and Barrel alone," Sally whispered to Jack.

That's when doctor Finklesteins face lite right up, "Oh well that's not a problem my dear Sally! Why my precious jewel here was planning on going to the meeting, I have no interest in going and I prefer not to be alone, so I can babysit for you!"

A day later...

"You hate us," Shock spat while sitting on the pumpkin kings bed with Lock watching him get ready to go, "You and Sally, really, really, really hate us."

"I don't hate any of you one bit," Jack said, while Sally adjusted his tie in the mirror. Once Sally fixed it, Jack turned his gaze to his right leg, "Barrel, you're going to get carpet burn down there."

Barrel didn't care, and continued to grab on to the master of frights leg like his life depended on it, "You can't leave us with him!" He cried, "He's crazy!"

Sally flinched. She was at a loss at what to really do. She completely understood why the children were so upset, and honestly she didn't overly want the doctor looking after them, but what was she suppose to say when he offered? They needed a sitter after all, and he willingly volunteered.

"He's not crazy," The master of fright said softly.

"Well he isn't sane!" Shock called.

"Why do we need a sitter anyways Jack?" Lock challenged, in hopes the pumpkin king would slip up and forget about their little bet.

"Because Lock you're only chil-" The pumpkin stopped himself, realizing what Lock was trying to do. The master of fright cleared his throat, and eyed Locks refection in the mirror, "Because Lock, it's my home and I much prefer someone be here home with you to make sure you three, and all my belongings are safe and sound," Lock was about to protest, so the master of fright went on, "If I were in your tree house while you weren't home," Jack really tried not to smirk, "You can hire a sitter for me, fair?"

Lock nodded bitterly in defeat, it made sense he supposed, but he still didn't like it.

"We wouldn't have been so cruel and hired the doctor," Shock murmured.

"Just play upstairs quietly and I'm sure he won't bother you," Sally suggested.

"Well, why can't we just come with you?" Lock asked.

"We'll be good," Barrel vowed, looking up at Jack, and still hugging his right leg.

"The meeting is for adults only," The master of fright lied, he honestly didn't know if the trick or treaters were welcome or not. But he wasn't going to risk exposing them to something similar to what happened at the last meeting. No way. They were better off at home, where they were safe.

"We could sit in your office," Shock suggested.

"It'll be past your bedtimes before we are home," Sally answered.

"Well why do we have to go to bed at 8:30? Lock tested, carefully eyeing Jack.

The master of fright guessed the night before that Lock was going to argue this point, and he was prepared to answer, "People in the age range you three are in need at least 11 hours of sleep, that's a fact really, I can show you in a book I have if you would like."

Jack's fun fact of the day got a cold stare from every kid in the room. The pumpkin king thought he was being nice by letting them stay up till 8:30, but still out off all the rules bedtime was still the least popular one.

"You're willing to leave us with some insane person, but you're not willing to let us stay up past 8:30?" Shock tested.

"He's not insane," The pumpkin king said again.

"He made this creepy wife that looks like a clone of himself, that isn't what I would call normal," Shock fired back.

"He made me," Sally said softly.

"Yeah," Lock pointed out, "But you're normal."

Sally turned and smiled at Lock, "Why thank you," She said sincerely flattered. Anything kind from Lock was always kind of a big deal.

"Please don't leave us alone with him Jack!" Barrel pleaded.

"You're all worried over nothing," The pumpkin king reassured, gazing down at Barrel again, "I have to walk over to the closet to get my jacket, are you going to let go?"

Barrel shook his head.

"Please?"

Barrel shook his head again.

The master of fright sighed, and carefully walked over to his closet, making sure he didn't walk to close to something that Barrel could bang his head off of, and lifting his leg enough so the child wouldn't get carpet burn.

"You're being silly you know," Jack said, while putting on his coat, and looking down at Barrel, "Do you honestly think me and Sally would leave you with someone we thought was crazy?"

"Not until you told us doctor Finklestein was coming to watch us," Barrel answered.

"Now," Jack said softly, taking a seat beside Lock and Shock on the bed, and peeling Barrel of his leg and placing him on his lap, "I think you three have the doctor completely misunderstood, he's a brilliant and interesting man," He glanced up at Sally, "Isn't that right Sally?"

The rag doll really wished her boyfriend wouldn't have dragged her into this, because to be perfectly honest, she kind of agreed with the trick or treaters. Her creator wasn't by any means a bad guy, but like the children had stated, he wasn't exactly a normal guy.

The rag doll took a seat on the bed beside Shock, "He's not a bad person," Sally said, not overly wanting to lie, but thought she should at least try to help Jack's case.

"He threatened to sow all our heads together!" Barrel cried, looking Sally right in the eye.

Sally reached her arms out to Barrel, and Barrel crawled over to her, looking for some reassurance.

The rag doll wrapped the littlest ex boogie boy in her arms, and hugged him tightly, enjoying the moment. The other two always rejected her attempts of giving them affection, so this was a rare and wonderful moment for the rag doll.

"Well if he did, I'd unsow you," She cooed.

"How reassuring," Lock muffled, with his arms crossed.

"His creepy wife pinched my cheeks once!" Shock spat, touching the side of her face, "And it hurt!"

"Well she isn't coming today, so your cheeks are safe for tonight," Jack said.

"Our heads aren't!" Lock argued.

"I've seen you all punch," Jack said, "And I've seen the damage you've all left behind, so I think you can protect yourselves just fine," He paused for a moment, "But you won't have to because me and Sally would never put you three in harm's way, and we are telling you, you three are going to be perfectly fine."

"Ring! Ring! Ring!"

"That must be him," The pumpkin king said, while getting up, "I'll go let him in," He said, leaving the room.

All six eyes helplessly went to Sally.

"You're not really going to leave us with him are you?" Lock asked, crawling over the bed to sit on the other side of the rag doll.

Sally sighed, "If I could stay with the three of you I would," She paused for a moment, "But really there isn't a single thing to worry about, you three will be fine. I promise."

"Well why do you and Jack both have to go?" Shock asked.

"All adults must attend."

"Why?" Lock asked.

Sally shrugged, unsure on what to really say. Her and Jack both agreed to keep the trick or treaters in the dark about everything that was going on with the town. They didn't want the ex boogie boys thinking all this was their faults, when it wasn't.

"It's just something to do with the town, nothing interesting. I'll probably fall asleep," The rag doll said.

"Well it has to be serious if all, and only adult can go," Lock said.

"Doctor Finklestein isn't going," Shock pointed out, narrowing in on Sally, "He's an adult."

"He's not an adult, he's a senior," Sally corrected.

Lock and Shock both looked at one another, but just shrugged. She did have a point.

Meanwhile downstairs Jack was going over a couple of things with the doctor.

"They go to bed at 8:30, I usually read to them in the living room, but if they don't want you to then you don't have to. If they want cookies or some kind of snack they are welcome to it. Umm if they want to play outside they have to wear their coats, and play in the backyard. If they are watching TV just keep an eye on what they're watching." Jack took a deep breath, "And finally doctor, no threats towards them please. That last thing really freaked them out, with you putting all their heads together or something."

"I promise Jack! Oh you worry to much my boy!" The doctor said in a smog voice.

Sally and the trick or treater came stepping down the stairs.

"Sally!" The doctor said happily, "You look lovely my dear!"

While Sally was talking to the doctor, Barrel whispered to his two friends.

"If we stay on the stairs he can't get to us," He pointed at the wheelchair.

"Good idea," Lock whispered back.

"Well, we should be off," Jack announced happily, glancing over at Lock, Shock, and Barrel on the stairs, that looked anything but happy, "Bye kids," The pumpkin king waved nervously, getting death glares from all three of them.

"Have a goodnight," Sally called, waving to the trick or treaters.

"Bye, Sally," Lock managed to muffle, giving the rag doll just barely a wave.

"We'll be back," Jack almost whispered, opening the door for Sally and still looking at the three kids that were still staring him down.

With that Jack closed the door, and before the doctor could say anything the three ex boogie boys bolted upstairs.

They decided to retreat to Shocks room, since it was the cleanest. Once they piled inside Lock slammed the door behind him.

"That was a close one," He mumbled, and began wandering around the room.

"Yeah," Barrel said, laying down on the perfectly made bed, "We should be safe up here though."

"He can't roll up the stairs," Shock snickered, taking a seat on the bed beside Barrel, "So, what do you guys wanna do?"

"I dunno," Barrel shrugged.

Lock ignored his friends and started looking at the things Shock had so neatly placed on her makeup table, purely amazed by the organizational skills she had, until something a little more interesting caught his eye.

"What's this?" He smirked, holding up a small glass bottle of sparkly purple nail polish.

"Nothing, so put it back!"

"Is this nail polish?" Lock asked, with a taunting grin covering his face.

"Yes, but it's not mine, it's Sally's. She wanted me to try it for the ball tomorrow because the colour goes with my dress," Shock shrugged, "But I don't really like that weird stuff on my hands," She said honestly.

"Oh yeah right," Lock said rolling his eyes, "It's probably yours, and you were probably going to paint your nails or something stupid, thinking no one would notice."

"Oh looks like you caught me!" Shock sarcastically answered back, "Stupid moron," She muffled to herself.

Lock started tossing it up and down in his palm, "Nail polish is pretty girly you know," He mocked.

Shock hopped off the bed, "Yeah I know, but like I said it isn't mine so be careful with it!"

Ignoring Shock, Lock went on,"What use would Sally have with purple nail polish, she never wears purple."

"I don't know," Shock growled, stepping closer to him, "But like I said, it's not mine so put it down before you break it or something."

Lock raised an eyebrow, but kept throwing it in his palm, "You want me to stop?"

"Yes!"

"Well, your're a lady aren't you? What's the magic word?" The devil mocked, and started throwing the bottle a little higher in the air.

Shock clenched her teeth together and her hands turned in to tight fists. But she wasn't going to backdown to him, not ever.

In rage, she snatched the bottle before he could catch it, and before he knew what happened Shock twisted his left arm and shoved him to the floor, sitting on his back and continued to twist his arm.

Lock was so uncomfortable, and unable to really move, since her weight was keeping him pinned down, and when he did try to struggle it only made the arm twisting worse. He looked spitefully at her, but she only grinned at him.

"What's the magic word?" She mocked.

"Please," Lock spat. His desperate please got a snicker from Barrel across the room.

Shock smiled deviously at her devil friend, "Sure I'll stop, just as soon as me and Barrel give you a little makeover," She glanced up at her younger friend, "Get over here!"

Barrel rushed over, excited to join the fun. Being on Shocks side was always the best side to be on.

Once Barrel was beside Shock, Shock handed him the bottle of nail polish with her free hand, "Open it please," She said, to politely for Locks liking.

"Oh what are you gonna do Shock?" Lock tested, "Gonna make me eat it?"

"Course not," She said way to softly, "I'm just going to make you look a little pretty."

Lock was mortified, and started struggling wildly, but it was no use, "Please don't paint my fingernails Shock! I'll do anything you want! Please!"

Shock snickered, while Barrel handed her the brush, and she got started on painting his thumb nail a sparkly purple.

"You know my left hand is my good hand!" Lock cried, horrified of the feeling of nail polish.

Shock just grinned at him, and continued to cover his sharp nails with the girly paint. Barrel stood close, laughing, and holding the bottle for Shock.

"I'm sorry about the girly thing Shock, I knew it had to have been Sally's!" Lock continued to plead, while Shock moved on to his index finger, "Just stop right now and I'll do anything you want!"

Shock just shook her head. This moment was far too priceless.

Lock continued to struggle, but still it was no use, "Cut it out!" The young devil screamed once she started on his middle finger.

"Oh you look beautiful already!" Shock cooed, "Sparkles is definitely your style Lockie."

"STOP IT SHOCK!" Lock yelled.

"Almost done," Shock went on, "Just gotta let them dry."

"Barrel stop her, or I'll punch your face in!"

"With you're sparkly purple hand?" Barrel giggled, while Shock handed him the brush to screw back on.

"This is my room," Shock said, in a snotty voice, "You don't have permission to punch Barrel."

"If you don't get off me Shock, I'll-" Lock was at a loss at what to do, again he couldn't hit her, and if he started calling her names or threatening her, Jack might find out, and than his deal would be off.

"You'll do what?" Shock said, narrowing in on him.

"I'll-," He paused for a moment, "I'll tell," He regretted saying that after he heard it out loud. That was just pathetic.

"Ha!" Shock mocked, "That's the best you got? That's just pathetic! Who you gonna tell? Jack and Sally are gone remember?" She taunted.

"I'll tell the doctor, and he'll probably glue your mouth together or something like that!"

Shock grinned at him, "Hey, he hates you just as much as he hates me."

Lock frowned, would this torment ever end...?

Meanwhile, Sally and Jack were almost to town hall.

"I bet Lock, Shock, and Barrel are having a wonderful time as we speak," Jack said, trying to cover up his guilt of leaving them with doctor Finklestein. He truly believed they would be perfectly safe with the doctor. It was just the little scene they made before they had made once they found out who their babysitter would be, and the cold stares he got while he was leaving that made him feel incredibly guilty.

Sally wasn't convinced that they were having a wonderful time, but she was confident that they were okay, "I'm sure they are," The rag doll lied, just for the sake of her boyfriends feelings.

It was quite for a moment.

"How do you think the meeting will go?" The pumpkin king asked helplessly.

Sally shrugged, "We'll know when we get there I suppose."

The master of fright sighed, "I suppose," He said sadly, holding the door open for Sally as the couple stepped in to town hall...

 **Hope you guys enjoyed it. I know it's pretty short. I cut it off there just because I didn't want you guys waiting a crazy long time for a update. And plus I found my last chapter a little too long. I have already started on the next chapter and I promise to have it updated soon! Thank you guys so much, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Tell me your thoughts :)**


	26. Part two

**Again, I am really sorry. I've been struggling to write this to be honest. I'm getting a tiny amount of negative backlash on this story and my newer chapters that it really kind of sucked the enjoyment out of writing this. So I'm sorry if the chapters are getting worse. This is honestly how I planned for my story to go, so I apologize if it isn't wrapping up the way you wanted it to. I'm so sorry everyone for the long update, and thank you to all the nice wonderful reviews. Please enjoy.**

 **I don't owe anything to do with nightmare before christmas.**

 _ **Part two**_

"All done! And may I say you look adorable in purple," Shock cooed, freeing Lock at last.

The young devil jumped up, and stared at his left hand. He was horrified at what he saw. His nails on his left hand, HIS writing hand were painted perfectly in sparkly purple nail polish.

Lock completely lost his mind, and like he had gone mad or something, he frantically started trying to scratch it off with his other hand.

" **GET IT OFF! GET IT OFF! GET IT OFF!** " He screamed, not even noticing that Shock and Barrel were rolling on the floor laughing and pointing at him.

"What a loser!" Shock laughed.

" **HOW DO YOU GET THIS STUFF OFF?!** " Lock cried, turning to Shock.

"I don't-" She had to take a moment and laugh for a little longer, "Know," She finally managed to gasp , before laughing some more.

"Figure it out Shock, **NOW**!" Lock said, dead serious.

"I already took you, I don't know how to remove it," She giggled.

"Figure it out!" Lock yelled, "And I mean it!"

"Nope!"

"Figure out a way or else!"

Shock paused her laughing, and narrowed in on him, "Or what?" She tested, "Or you're gonna tell right?"

Lock glanced over at her neatly placed makeup table, "Or," He said, scrolling over to it, "Touch this," He said, picking up some kind of scent potion she had on her night stand, and moved it to a different spot, "And this," He said, now picking up her hair brush (Shock brushed her hair?) And moving it. He continued to do so, and even knocked a pen she had on the floor. If there was one thing that made Shock go crazy, it was someone touching and moving around her things. She liked things a certain way, and when they weren't neatly placed by her choosing she went nuts.

"Stop it!" Shock screamed, marching over to him, "That's my stuff!"

Lock held a glass pumpkin decoration, "Take the nail polish stuff off, or I'm going to drop it on the floor and break it."

Shock looked at him helplessly, "I don't know how to remove it!"

"I think it's slipping from my hand," Lock tested.

"Stop-it Lock, come on seriously, I'm sure Sally can remove."

"You put it on, you can take it off."

"Put it down!"

"I can't hold on much longer," Lock tormented.

"STOP IT LOCK!" Shock screamed at the top of her lungs.

"What in the world is all the blasted yelling about?" A voice questioned in the doorway.

All three children forgot what was going on to look at where the voice was coming from.

"Hey!" Barrel called, pointing at the doctor, "How'd you get upstairs?"

The doctor grinned, "I have a claw on my wheelchair that grabs on to the stair railing that slides me up and down," He paused for a moment, "So why is everyone yelling?"

"Lock keep's touching my stuff!" Shock growled.

"You painted my nails!" Lock screamed back, "I'll stop touching your stuff once you get this stuff off!"

"I told you already, I don't know how!"

"If you can put it on, you can take it off!"

The two continued to bicker, while the doctor wheeled his way over beside Barrel, "Can I see the nail polish please?"

Without question Barrel handed the bottle over to the doctor.

"Come here," The doctor said, gesturing to Lock.

Lock turned away from Shock, "Why?" He questioned, scrunching his face up.

"I'm going to take the nail polish off," The doctor shrugged, "Unless of course you'd like to keep it on."

That was all it really took to have Lock come rushing over to the doctor, holding out his left hand.

The doctor smiled, and unscrewed the bottle of purple nail polish.

"What are you doing with that stuff!" Lock asked, horrified, and ripping his hand back.

"I'm going to remove it, so give me your hand," The doctor said simply

"With what?" Lock blurted.

"With this," The doctor said, holding up the bottle.

"Do you think I'm a moron?" The young devil blurted.

The doctor sighed, and wheeler slowly towards Lock, "I'm going to put nail polish over where your nails are painted, and it'll wipe right off, trust me."

"Yeah right!" Lock sneered, "What do you know about that kind of stuff anyways."

"Well I am a doctor."

Lock took a deep breath and let his guard down, and held his hand out nervously. Keeping his eyes shut as he felt the wet, disgusting feeling on his finger nails for a second time today. If this didn't work, the old man was going back in that neck brace.

Meanwhile Jack and Sally sheepishly slid in to a seat in the back row at town hall. It was pretty packed, and unfortunately everyone seemed to notice when they came stepping in. How did Lock, Shock, and Barrel handle all these dirty looks all the time? Both Sally and Jack were equally uncomfortable. This had to be the single most worst feeling in the underworld. And it only got worse then the Mayor came stepping on the stage.

"Jack! Sally!" He said, a little to brightly for the couples liking, "There is a seat saved for you right in the front row!"

Awkwardly, Jack and Sally shuffled out of their seats, and worked their way to the front row, trying to avoid making eye contact with every single person in the room, because everyone was glaring at them. Once they were seated though was when the fun was really going to begin...

At home, the doctor just finished wiping off Locks nail polish.

"All done," The old man announced, tucking the old rag he used back in to his pocket, "You can look now, it's okay," The doctor said sarcastically.

Lock who kept his eyes closed the whole entire time, unwillingly opened them, and looked down at his left hand, "It's gone," The young devil said, completely amazing.

"Told you," The doctor said.

"How?" Lock questioned, inspecting his hand, just to double check that all purple sparkly stuff really was completely gone.

"Acetone is the main thing in nail polish, and nail polish remover," The older man explained, "So when you put nail polish over nail polish it just wipes right off."

"Weird," Lock said, still looking at his hand.

"What a moron," Shock muttered.

Lock snapped his head around to Shocks bed, where her and Barrel were sitting, "Says you!" The six year old growled, "You didn't even know how to take it off!"

Shock jumped down from her bed, "I woulda figured it out!" She barked.

Lock rolled his eyes, and crossed his arms. She was so annoying. And what was even more frustrating was Barrel over there giggling with her. He wouldn't have thought it was funny if she did that to him.

"Now," The doctor said, cutting in, "Are you three going to hid up here all night, or are you going to come down stairs so I can show you what I brought."

Lock narrowed in on the old man, "What did you bring?" He asked, still with his arms crossed. He didn't trust crazy old people, even if this crazy old person just helped him.

"It's a surprise," The old man whispered, with a grin on his face.

"Good or bad?" Shock argued. Just like Lock, she didn't trust him.

"Good of course!" The doctor shouted, actually hurt they would assume he would surprise them with something bad. What kind of person did they think he was?

"How good is it?" Barrel questioned, "One to ten, one being the lowest, and ten being the highest."

"I think a ten, but you'll have to follow me and tell me yourselves," The doctor explained, turning to the door, "Now come along, follow me outside!"

Lock, Shock, and Barrel just looked at one another for a moment, before all them just sighed and followed the old man. If he pulled something it was three against one.

Meanwhile, Corpse dad just came stubbing on to the stage to make his statement on why he should be voted to be the next pumpkin king. And just to really rub it in, everyone in the room other then Jack and Sally clapped and cheered when he came forward.

"If I was pumpkin king!" The corpse shouted loud, and proudly to the audience, "I would make sure plans for Halloween would always be done when they are suppose to be," He flashed a glare at Jack.

If Jack had eyeballs, he would have rolled them, and if Sally wasn't so shy, she would have snorted. No one could ever replace Jack. He was the best thing this town has ever had.

The corpse man went on, "But, I would first get rid of the reasons that might delay or ruin Halloween. Now I'm not saying names, but we all know three little terrors in this town that might ruin this years Halloween for us."

The master of fright clinched his fists together, disgusted with what he was hearing, and from a man that has a child for that matter!

The corpse went on, "Now as we all know, pests are challenging to get rid of, so I suggest we exterminate their home, and that should be enough to get those three little Halloween ruiners out of town."

"Would if they rebuild?" A short witch asked in the back row.

The corpse shrugged, "We will refuse to give them the materials."

"And if they steal it?" The werewolf in the middle row questioned.

The corpse cleared his throat, "I believe in giving people a fair chance, _**But**_ if any of these three pests steal anything, they will be banned forever from Halloween town."

Sally shyly raised her hand, "But where are they suppose to go?" She asked nervously.

"Who cares!" A harsh voice yelled back, and got a laugh from everyone else in the room.

Sally blushed, and slowly put her hand down. She hated speaking in general, but she felt like she had to say something.

The mayor came stepping on the stage, "Alright!" He said brightly, "Lets all give Mr. Corpse a round of applause for that w _onderful_ speech!" The crowd roared with cheers and clapping.

Jack and Sally sat with their arms crossed, and straight faces. Both them knew it was rude not to at least clap, but they just couldn't bring themselves to even stoop that low.

"Now now!" The Mayor said happily, trying to calm the cheering crowd, "We still have one more speech to hear," He gestured to Jack, "Would you do us the honour?"

The master of fright scowled, but rose from his seat and proudly stepped onto the stage to speak, while Corpse dad stepped off.

Jack cleared his throat to speak, as he looked around the room at all the people that had turned on him. What was there to even say? They wouldn't listen. They had they're minds made up long before the meeting, and Jack didn't stand a chance. And even if this whole night went badly, which it would, no one could say he didn't at least try.

"As pumpkin king, I understand and realize how important Halloween is to everyone in this room," Jack opened with, "Heck, I love Halloween. It's the best holiday in the world, and I wouldn't let anything in the underworld ruin it."

A few people snorted, but Jack ignored them and went on, "But there has been a lot of problems in this town for a very long time, for about seven years I would guess," The towns people straightened in their seats a bit to listen a little more carefully, Jack continued, "Very disturbing things, things that keep me the master of fright awake at night because it bothers me how long these issues have been ignored until now," Jack voice turned a lot more grim and dark, "A lot of it was kept behind closed doors, and I should have questioned it sooner then I did, but I didn't." The pumpkin king took a deep breath, "The three so called trouble makers of this town were abused, and even a blind person would know that Oogie treated them horrifically."

Someone stood up to speak, but Jack quickly shut them down, "And don't say this has nothing to do with what I'll do for the town, because every single person in this room knows that the only reason this vote was called was because of the trick or treaters," He said sharply, "We as a town, as adults put the issues of Lock, Shock, and Barrel aside for so long just for the simple fact that we didn't want to deal with it, and because we ignored it for so long they became what they are. They were bullied, and beaten by this horrible man for so long, that yes they might have become trouble makers, but that's not any fault of they're own, Oogie is too blame, not them. And in the last few weeks I can speak first hand when I say their behaviour has improved, and if everyone in this room would give them a fair shot you would see how good of kids they really are. They've dealt with enough hate in their lives, what they really need is some love, and respect, not more hate, and trust me I see all the dirty looks you all give them."

"Behaved?" Someone snorted, "They destroyed all the plans for Halloween."

"Yes," Jack explained, "But they did that because of two reasons, One because the Mayor called them brats, and two because they thought me and Sally were trying to control them," The Mayor opened his mouth to speak, but Jack spoke first, "Isn't it a little sad to all of you that three children seem to think there is a catch if some adults are trying to be kind to them? Besides that was one time this whole month, and that was at the start of the month. They haven't tried anything else to ruin Halloween since, have they?"

"No," A voice in the front row said, "But you still aren't any where's close to being done planning for Halloween."

"And," Another voice in the back row added, "They're going to be leaving your house in a week, they'll just back to their old ways."

"Maybe," The pumpkin king said, "Or maybe if the town gives them a chance, and is nice to them they will return the favour."

This made the room divided on what to do know, and everyone murmured among themselves, while Jack proudly took his seat. Maybe he stood a chance after all...

"Why are we outside?" Lock complained, standing in the backyard with the doctor, Shock, and Barrel, with his arms crossed.

"I want to show you something," The doctor explained, pulling out three bottles from the side pocket of his wheelchair, "Here," He said holding them out to Lock, "open it and try."

Lock rolled his eyes, but did as the crazy man asked and unscrewed the top, and pulled out the wand thing that was attached to the lid, "You wanted me to show me how to blow bubbles?" Lock growled, not the least bit amused.

The doctor nodded, "Yes, now try it," He said excitedly.

"No thanks," Lock snorted, handing the bottle and wand to the doctor, "I stopped blowing bubbles when I was two, like most people."

"I'll try," Shock said.

Lock glared at her for a moment, "Seriously?"

Shock nodded and took the bottle and wand from the doctor.

"Whatever," The young devil snorted, turning to go back inside.

Shock dipped the wand in to the bottle, then blew lightly, in Locks direction. Lucky for her, just to annoy him, one floated right in front of his face.

Lock went to pop it when...

" _ **BANG! BANG!**_ "

Lock nearly jumped out of his skin, "What the heck was that!" He shirked, wiping his head around.

"Exploding bubbles!" The doctor said proudly, "Aren't they cool?"

"I wanna try!" Barrel said excitedly, taking a bottle from the doctor, and blowing a few bubbles and watching them explode like a firecracker, "That's awesome!" Barrel shouted, purely amazed.

"You should have seen your face!" Shock mocked, holding her side with one hand while she laughed at him.

"Shut up!" Lock barked, storming over to her and snatching the bottle of bubbles out of her hand, "Get your own!"

Shock didn't make a issue of it, and just took the other bottle of bubbles from the doctor.

The doctor watched peacefully at the three children happily playing, and giggling at his newest invention. A genuine smile grew on his face, and he couldn't seem to stop smiling even if he tried. They might not have been grandchildren, but they were close enough. This was more then the doctor could have ever asked for. It was a dream moment for him...

The Mayor cleared his throat to speak, while Jack returned to his seat beside Sally.

"Some wonderful speeches tonight, from both parties, honestly I think I'm torn on what to do. "

Corpse Dad stood up, "May I speak again please?"

The Mayor nodded, "Why of course."

All eyes turned to the Corpse as he cleared his throat to speak.

"Jack had quite a wonderful speak, honestly Jack it was touching," He said, gesturing to the pumpkin

king, "And I honestly do want to believe him on the stuff he has said, really I do, but," He eyed Jack carefully before returning his attention to the crowd, "Though he says these things, he has no evidence to support the stuff he's said. Our pumpkin king can not prove that they won't destroy more plans for Halloween, they had done it once, so what's stopping them from doing it a second time? Have they not also caused harm upon the town right after getting a talking to from Jack in the past? And when they first arrived to Halloween town we showed them with respect, yet they only caused us misery. Now I'm not saying they haven't changed while staying with Jack and Sally, but are we really going to risk another person in a neck brace, or broken bone to find out that they have just went back to their old ways?"

Sally raised her hand, "Well umm, if you're done, could I maybe speak please," She said shyly.

The Mayor nodded, "Go ahead Sally dear."

The rag doll slowly rose from her seat, as all eyes went on her. She would never speak up any other time, but she loved Lock, Shock, and Barrel enough to face one of her biggest fears, public speaking.

She cleared her throat, "We can test them, tomorrow at the ball. If everyone is kind to them, and none of them pull any pranks then we'll know, and have evidence on Jack's theory," She shrugged, trying not to stare at the floor, "I mean it's worth a shot isn't it?"

The crowd starting chatting among themselves, as Sally slowly sank back in her seat.

"Good idea Sally," Jack whispered to his girlfriend proudly.

The rag doll smiled at him weakly, "I tried."

Meanwhile...

"Can I have a snack?" Barrel asked, taking his coat off, after returning back inside.

"Yeah," Lock complained, tossing his jacket in the usual spot, the floor, "I'm hungry!"

"Me two," Shock added, neatly hanging her coat up on the hook.

"I'll go get some milk and cookies," The older man said, turning too the kitchen, "Follow me," He called, and the trio quickly came scampering after him.

Once everyone was almost finished with their snack of milk and chocolate chip cookies, the doctor looked at his watch, "It's almost 8:30," He announced, much to everyone's displeasure.

"But I'm not tired," Barrel complained.

"Me neither," Lock added.

"Me three," Shock said.

"Do we have to go to bed?" Lock asked, shoving his empty milk glass aside, and gazing up at the old man.

"That was one of Jack's rules," The doctor said firmly, which got a groan from everyone, "Course," He said with a grin, "Rules were meant to be broken."

With that said, everyone stayed up a hour past bedtime, jumping on the couch, eating more cookies, and watching TV, until they heard Jack and Sally in the drive way and the doctor rushed everyone to go upstairs and to at least pretend to be asleep.

"Jack, Sally!" The doctor said brightly, greeting the couple, "Home so soon?"

"Not soon enough," Sally said, taking off her coat, and hanging it up.

"Did everything go okay?" Jack asked, picking both Locks, and Barrels coats up from the floor.

"Wonderful!" The doctor praised, "Three little angels! Lots of fun!"

Sally looked confused, but Jack spoke before her, "I knew they would have fun!" The pumpkin king said brightly.

"Yes, well anytime you need a sitter my boy I'm happy to help, free of charge!" He said, turning to the door.

"Well thank you Doctor, so much, me and Jack are very grateful," Sally said sincerely.

"Anytime dearest Sally, how did the meeting go?"

Jack shrugged, "Better then expected."

"Well you have my vote Jack!" The doctor said happily, "Well I should be off."

"See you tomorrow night?" Sally called, as he opened the door, and his wheelchair arm latched on to the railing.

"I'll put my dancing shoes on!" He said, waving goodbye.

After the doctor left, Sally and Jack tended to the dishes in the kitchen that were left after the trick or treaters snack. They turned to go out into the living room, then upstairs to check on the three of them before they went to bed themselves.

But once the couple stepped into the living room, two small figures were sitting on the couch.

"Shock, Barrel, you're suppose to be in bed," Jack said.

"What vote Jack?" A sharp voice asked in the coroner of the room, in Jacks usual armchair.

The pumpkin king meant the gaze of a dead serious Lock, who sat with his arms tightly crossed, "And we want a honest answer," Lock said sharp as a blade...

 **Sorry you waited so long for such a short chapter guys. I am really sorry to make you wait. I promise to try and update as soon as I can. Thank you so much to everyone that is still reading this. Love you all.**


	27. Chapter 22

**Weeks later, finally a update! Again, sorry it took so long, I've been working on this chapter, just it just took forever to finish. I'd like to give a shout out to highninaaf, what you said was really sweet, and I really appreciate. Also a shout out to rathernotmyname, and to the person that reads my story in Spanish class, I hope you enjoy, and have a good class lol. Anyways, you've all waited forever for this chapter, so here it is. Please enjoy! And thank you to everyone for the wonderful reviews! Your support means so much!**

 **I don't own anything to do with nightmare before Christmas.**

 _ **Chapter 22**_

The master of fright crossed his arms, carefully eyeing each trick or treater. He just got home from dealing with a roomful of angry, and resentful people, and now he had to deal with it in his own living room? It was almost cute really, three pouting kids, even if they were serious.

"It's nothing you three need to worry about," Jack said smoothly, "Now go upstairs, back to bed please."

"You're a liar," Lock said firmly, glaring coldly up at Jack.

"Lock," Sally said softly, "Jack's telling the truth, it's nothing you need too worry about, so please don't get so worked up, and rush to conclusions."

Lock backed off a little bit, not that he wanted too, but he did it just for Sally. "What vote?" He asked in a more softer, more reasonable tone.

Jack shrugged, "It's a town election," The pumpkin king said honestly, "every couple years the town has one just because. That's what the meeting was about tonight, all I had to do was go up and say a speech and the town talked and it was over." The pumpkin king was rather proud of his story, he didn't lie to them, not really. He just didn't give them as much detail as they probably wanted, but that was okay, for now they could be oblivious. "You three are too young to vote, so you couldn't come, and the doctor already knew he was voting for me so that's why he didn't go."

"Who else is running?" Barrel asked.

"Corpse dad," Jack answered.

Lock snorted, "Like he'll have a chance."

The master of fright grinned at Lock, "I was thinking the same thing, but hey he might get a few votes!" He eyed the three children carefully, "So is everyone good now?"

The trio nodded.

"Good," Jack said brightly, "Now how about you three head up to bed, it's a big day tomorrow."

With that everyone leaped from their seats and turned to go upstairs.

"Hey Jack," Shock said, turning back to the living room, while the boys ran upstairs.

"Yes Shock?"

"Could you bring me a glass of water?" She paused for a second, "Please."

The master of fright smiled, "Of course, I'll be up in a minute."

"Thanks," She said, before scampering upstairs after her two friends.

The master of fright turned to his girlfriend and smiled, "Well, that was easier then I expected it to be."

Sally smiled back at him, "I'm glad, I don't want anymore fights today. That meeting tonight was enough."

"I completely agree with you my dear," Jack said, turning to go to the kitchen to get Shock her water. He was actually a little more happy then normal people should be when someone asks them to do something. Shock never asked him for anything really, so maybe she was starting to open up a little more to him.

Jack stepped upstairs to Shocks room, noticing the door was wide up, and her lamp on. He just shrugged, and just walked in, only to have the door forcefully shut behind him.

"You're a liar," Shock spat bitterly, glaring up at the pumpkin king.

"How did you mange to close that so fast?" Jack blunted, before comprehending what she just said, "Wait?" He finally clued in, "How am I a liar?"

Shock marched over to her bed, and took a seat, "It's not election time, a election is held every five years, it hasn't been five years, I remember, you even told me that last election, remember?"

The master of fright did in fact remember. Shock was just barely three at the time, came in to town hall the day of the mayors election, pushing a one year Barrel in one of her doll strollers, and dragging a fussy two year old Lock around with her other hand.

At the time Jack just thought they must have slipped away from Oogie's sight when he had his back turned, because they were only toddlers, (Now he knew Oogie probably couldn't be bothered to watch them).

They noticed a big event going on around town, and assumed it was Halloween. So Shock tugged on Jacks jacket and said trick or treat like she thought she was supposed to. The master of fright gave them candy anyways, and explained to Shock that the town had a election every five years. This year it was for the Mayor, and five years later it would be the pumpkin king, then in five years the mayor again. For a three year old she seemed to understand pretty good, but Jack never would have thought his long boring drone to try and get them to fall asleep before taking them back home would be something Shock would remember.

"I'm impressed Shock, really," Jack said honestly, "But this is a early election, I wasn't lying too you."

"Why's it early?" She barked, looking at him sharply, "And don't lie!"

Jack took a deep breath, "I won't lie," He said softly, now trying to think of a way to word his honest answer that wouldn't upset her, "The town is just doubting how I'm planning Halloween this year."

"Why?" Shock asked coldly.

"I'm just running a little behind," The pumpkin king said awkwardly, "But everything will be done on time."

"Are you running behind because me, Lock, and Barrel ruined everything?" Shock asked emotionless, "Be honest."

Jack looked her in the eye, part of him still wanted to lie, but deep down he knew that wasn't fair to her, "Yes," The master of fright said softly, struggling not to turn away from her, "But it's okay, everything will work out."

"So all of this is our fault," Shock sighed.

"No, not at all," Jack said calmly, reaching to put a hand on her shoulder, but she jerked away.

"Then whose fault is it?" She growled, now refusing to look at Jack.

"The towns," Jack said, lifting her chin, "They just don't understand."

Shock slapped his hand off, "Understand what?" She barked, glaring at the pumpkin king.

"What you, Lock, and Barrel have been through."

" _ **You**_ have no idea what we've been through," Shock said bitterly, turning away from the master of fright again.

"You're right," Jack said genitally, "I have no clue, but I know it was horrible."

Shock kept her eyes towards the window, as her mind filled with horrific memories of when Oogie was alive.

"Why did you take us back home?" Shock finally asked after a long pause, still looking out the window.

"What do you mean?"

"Why did you take us back to the tree house?" Shock growled.

Jack was now completely lost, "I don't understand, when?"

Shock whirled around and gave him the coldest stare she had, "When the last election was, four years ago! We were just little kids walking around by ourselves!" Her face was now a mix of angry and upset, "Didn't you know something was up! You had to have known it! Why did you just send us back home to him, why didn't you take us then!" It was quiet again, "Maybe if you did, none of would be in this mess now."

Jack looked at her for a long moment, and he could feel his heart break in to pieces over what he was just told. He'd never have a good enough reason for her, or even himself as to way they stayed with Oogie for as long as they did. The pumpkin king truly had no idea that they were being abused until he seen the fear in all three of they're eyes when he scared them for bringing back the Easter bunny, and he planned to take them away from Oogie right on Christmas, he did. But then in another way Jack kicked himself for not cluing in sooner. He always knew Oogie was bad, but the master of fright just assumed even the worst people had a soft, kinder spot in them, and he thought Lock, Shock, and Barrel were his.

"If I would have known what I know now Shock I would have," He knelled down to her level, and grabbed her shoulders lightly, "I honestly didn't know Shock," The little girl refused to look at him, but he kept going, "But now that I do know I can promise you I will make sure no one will ever hurt you or Lock, or Barrel like that ever again."

Shock turned to him, her face a mix of emotions, "Really?" She managed to crook.

"Really," Jack said sincerely.

"But would if you lose the election, and we get run out of town?"

"I'm protect you, I promise Shock."

That was all it really took for Shock to break down and give the master of fright a hug. For once in her life she felt happy, content, and safe with Jacks long arms wrapped around her. Even if things were going to end badly with the election, things were still going to be okay. And this feeling of hurt, and fear were finally lifted. Oogie was never coming back, and would never hurt her or her friends ever again. And rather then feel the need to protect herself all the time, and her two younger friends, she now knew someone would protect her as well. She really wasn't alone anymore, and she'd never have to defend Oogie ever again. She could finally accept that Oogie was a horrible, abusive person, and that she deserved something better, and for once was finally going to get something better. After resenting Jack for so long, she know knew the truth, and could finally move on to what she thought might be the start of a new and better life.

"Thank you," the little girl whispered.

The pumpkin king just smiled and hugged her a little tighter. It was one of those rare moments where no words were needed. It was just to perfect to be interrupted.

After a couple more moments, Shock pulled away and looked up at the master of fright, "So what happens now?" She whispered.

Jack gave her a weak smile, "We'll see how things go at the dance tomorrow night, and then we'll see how the vote goes," He paused for a moment, "Just don't tell Barrel or Lock, okay? I don't want them getting worked up about this election thing."

Shock nodded, "Okay," She whispered back. She'd never tell Lock or Barrel what was really going on anyways because Lock would make a big deal about it, and Barrel was too much of a lose cannon and would blabe to Lock.

After Jack tucked Shock into bed he tiptoed to Barrels room and lightly opened the door. To no surprise he was pasted out in the centre of the bed with his stripped pj's, and his thumb parked in his mouth. It was cute, but probably bad for his growing teeth. So the master of fright quietly walked over to the bed, and gently pulled his hand away from his mouth. Jack then carefully yanked the covers up a little more.

Jack watched the smallest child sleep for a moment. He was just so peaceful, and comfortable, it was a precious sight to watch.

Once the master of fright was done checking on Barrel, he tip toed to Locks room. Luckily he was also sound asleep. His red pointed shoes both kicked in opposite directions on the floor, and he didn't even bother to change out of his clothes. He was snoring lightly, and he slept with each of his four limbs in different directions. Jack was tempted to try and move him in to a more comfortable looking position, but decided against it because if one little thing were to wake him, the little devil would have Jacks head.

Jack did though take a second to go over to the sleeping, and much more quieter Lock and ruffle his red hair, just because it would be the only time the young devil would ever allow the master of fright or anyone else to touch him, especially his hair. Jack actually had to take a moment and just deviously smile to himself over what he just did. A awake Lock would have lost it, but a sleeping Lock couldn't do anything about it.

The master of fright felt more and more silly though the longer he watched the boy sleep. How is it every time Lock was awake he intimidated Jack, but when he was asleep he looked so small, and sweet, and innocent?

He watched for a couple more moments before he heard the door creak up.

"Jack," Sally whispered from behind the door.

The pumpkin king turned to look at her.

"Barrel and Shock are asleep," She said softly, "Is Lock okay?"

"Yep," Jack whispered back, quietly walking over to the door, and lightly closing it behind him, "So do you think they had fun with the doctor?" The master of fright asked, putting a arm gently around Sally's waist.

Sally shrugged, "I think so, I know the doctor did."

"I'm glad," Jack said, with a smug smile, "This time a couple weeks ago, him and the trick or treaters got off to a bad start, I'm happy that changed."

"Me too," Sally said brightly. Her smile though quickly went to a frown, "A couple weeks ago, that just reminds me that we only have a week left with them."

Jack took a deep breath, "Yeah," He sighed, "I know."

Sally and Jack didn't say another word after that, and quietly went to bed, but neither of them slept that night. They were both in too deep of though over how fast the days were passing by, and it made both them feel sick to their stomachs that the three little ones that they've grown to love so much were leaving soon.

The next morning, like usual Sally was cooking breakfast while Jack was in his spot reading the paper and wolfing down his cup of coffee before Lock came marching in to lecture him about it.

Like usual, Barrel was the first one to come toddling in the room.

"Jack," Barrel said, tugging on the pumpkin kings jacket to get his attention.

The master of fright smiled at him, "I already took your part of the paper out for you, here you go," He said brightly, handing the littlest trick or treater the comic section of the paper.

"Thanks, but I was just wondering if I could sit back over beside Sally, like where I originally sat," He asked shyly.

The pumpkin king grinned, "Don't like sitting beside Lock?" He asked playfully.

Barrel shook his head, "No, it isn't that. It's just," Barrel shrugged, "I dunno, I like the angle of the room better over there."

"Then by all means sit there," Jack said with a smile.

Barrel smiled back at him before scampering over to his original seat at the table.

Shock didn't even seem to mind that he took his old spot back when she came stepping in, and just took back her original spot without making a fuss.

"Oh, so now where am I supposed to sit?" Lock complained, marching in the room.

Jack looked up from his newspaper, "Sit where ever you want," He said simply.

The young devil pointed Shock, "I thought I wasn't allowed to sit beside _her."_

Shock stuck her tongue out at him, and in return he did the same.

"That's quite enough of that you two," Jack frowned, shaking his head, "Lock, you can sit beside Shock, but no fights, none," He warned, eyeing the devil carefully.

"Yes Jack," Lock said, clearly being sarcastic, while hopping up in his original seat beside Shock.

Shock turned to Lock, giving him a devious grin, "So, what colour are you going to paint your nails for the ball tonight?"

Barrel giggled to himself at the end of the table, and peaked up from his paper to watch his two friends bicker.

Lock just shrugged, "Gee, I dunno. You'll have to let me look threw your collect so I can pick."

"I told you it wasn't mine," Shock growled.

Lock just grinned at her, which made her more mad.

"Okay, I think it's time he moved," She snarled, pointing at Lock, and looking at Jack for a ruling.

"Shock, dear," Jack said softly, lowering his newspaper, "You were the one trying to instigate."

Before Shock could argue that, Lock spoke up, "Why do you always do that?" The young devil barked, clearly annoyed.

"Do what?" The master of fright asked, now folding up his newspaper.

"Go easy on her! Every single time!" Lock pointed out, "If that were me, you'd force me to move seats, but her, no! And not to mention, every time it's me and Barrel, we always get the same old lecture, and blah, blah, blah from you, but Shock, never!"

The pumpkin king looked over to see Barrel nod in agreement.

"And what exactly do I blah, blah, blah about?" Jack asked, crossing him arms, and leaning back in his seat.

"About coats, about name calling, about going by the road, about being polite-"

"I get those lectures too you know!" Shock snarled, cutting Lock off.

"Yes, but not as much as we do! We listen to it every single time we go to do something! And when I sat over there and started a fight, I was forced to move, for three weeks! But when you do it, all you get is, _Oh Shock dear_! That's not fair!" Lock ranted, "It's just favouritism!" He glanced at Jack, then back at Shock, "Well you shouldn't look mad, you should be happy because you're the favourite!"

"Jack doesn't have favourites,"Sally said softly, touching Locks shoulder, while serving him a plate of waffles with her other hand.

"Oh yes he does!" Lock argued, turning to the rag doll, "For a while I thought it was Barrel, and he's a close second, but Shock is totally his favourite."

Shock crossed her arms and rolled her eyes, "And everyone in the house knows you're Sally's favourite."

"Nuh-un!" Lock growled, "Barrel is Sally's favourite, and you're Jack's favourite!"

"Nah," Barrel spoke up, "You're totally Sally's favourite, and Shock is totally Jack's favourite."

"No, I'm no ones favourite," Shock blurted, "Barrel is Jack's favourite, and Lock is Sally's."

"Yeah right!" Lock sneered.

"Well lets ask," Barrel announced, "Jack, Sally, whose your favourite?"

"We don't have a favourite," Jack said, shaking his head over how ridiculous their whole conversation was.

"We love all three of you exactly the same," Sally added, now serving Shock.

"That's just lame," Lock huffed, rolling his eyes, "And it's also untrue."

The pumpkin king sighed, and looked at Lock, "Lock," He said in a soft tone, "If I remember correctly, when we first had breakfast together you and Shock got in to two fights that morning. One which was over the plate of pancakes, and you were told if you just gave the plate to Shock first you'd get the first piece of cake later, am I not correct?"

"Yeah," Lock muffled, remembering the morning that felt like years ago, "But I didn't instigate that fight."

"You elbowed her first, That's instigating," The master of fright corrected, "And I went easy on you the first time, and then the second time I moved you." Lock just crossed his arms and pouted, knowing that he was now losing at his own battle, but Jack went on, "So don't preach to me saying I have favourites or go easy on Shock when I handled both incidents exactly the same," Lock was about to open his mouth, but the pumpkin king went on, "Also, the only reason I lectured you and Barrel more was because Shock was not with me when we went to town the other day, or when you two decided to run around outside onto the road."

"So you're saying if Shock tries to start another fight with me then she'll get moved to sit beside you?" Lock asked.

Jack nodded. While Shock just crossed her arms and rolled her eyes.

Once Sally got all the food on the table, it was quiet for a couple minutes, before Lock decided he was going to at least win one battle with Jack before breakfast was over.

"So Jack," Lock said in a sugar sweet voice, which made the pumpkin king want to cringe, "Why are you allowed to drink coffee whenever you want, but I can't?"

The master of fright took a deep breath, "Because I'm a adul-" He stopped himself when he noticed Lock raising an eyebrow and smirking at him. It was too late for the pumpkin king to try and explain why he could drink coffee and why Lock shouldn't. He didn't really have a reason anyways, coffee was both bad for kids and adults. So Jack just gave in, knowing he had to stick with his and Locks little bet, "I don't have a reason Lock," The pumpkin king surrendered, pushing his coffee mug aside. Well there goes his coffee for tomorrow...

The ball was going to start at 7, but Jack had a couple things he had to do in town before it started, just to make sure everything was in place and good to go. The plan was Jack was going to get ready, get the boys ready, leave a few hours early and give the girls the whole house to get ready.

It was 3:30 and Lock, Shock, and Barrel were sitting in the living room watching tv with Zero sleeping in the corner, when Jack came in clapping his hands, which woke the little dog up, and also go the trio's attention.

"What!" Lock complained, covering his ears.

Jack smiled, "I need you," He said, pointing to Lock, "And you," He said, pointing to Barrel, "To start getting ready. Sally has a bath ready for the downstairs bathroom, and I got one ready for upstairs, Lock you're down stairs, and Barrel you're upstairs."

"It's too early," Lock complained, "Besides, I don't need a bath."

"Neither do I," Barrel added happily.

The pumpkin king leaned against the doorway, "And when was the last time you two had a bath?" He asked, with a grin.

"When was the last time _you_ have a bath," Lock fired back.

"I had a shower this morning, after I woke up," Jack answered back.

"Why can't we take a shower?" Lock growled.

"You can," Jack said softly, "I just thought you two would prefer a bath."

"Like Lock, and Barrel ever shower, or bathe," Shock snickered.

Lock wiped his head around, "I do so!" He yelled.

"What's a matter devil boy, afraid of a little water," Shock cooed.

Lock jumped from his seat, "No! I'm not afraid of anything!"

"Then prove it," Shock continued to mock.

And that was all it really took for Lock to march out of the living room, and storm to the bathroom, slamming the door behind him.

"I guess I'll go too then," Barrel said shyly, hoping off the couch and scampering out of the room, and upstairs.

"Thanks," Jack said, looking at Shock.

"No, thank you for suggesting they bathe. They were started to smell bad," She snorted, while putting her feet up on the coffee table, and taking the remote, "Morons," She snickered to herself.

"That's not very nice Shock," Jack said, taking a seat beside her on the couch.

She just shrugged, "I just know they are going to mess something up today, I just have that feeling."

"Why?

Shock just shrugged, "Because it's them."

Jack bit his lip. He could only pray she was wrong...

After Barrel was done his bath, and dressed, Jack came in to help him dry and comb his hair, while Zero stayed in the doorway and painfully watched Jack unintentionally yank at poor Barrel's hair.

"You're pulling," Barrel whined, standing up on the bathroom vanity, looking at himself in the mirror, while Jack worked on his hair.

"Sorry," The pumpkin king said sincerely, trying to go much more genital with the comb.

"What do you know about hair anyways Jack? No offence," Barrel shyly asked, "Ouch," The little boy flinched.

"Sorry!" The master said, smiling down at the boy, "and none taken. I used to have hair, in my human life, I think."

Barrel winced when Jack worked at a knot, but looked up at the pumpkin king, "You remember you're human life?" He asked in sheer amazement.

"Not much," Jack confessed, "But I think I remember hair. I think I remember my mothers hair, I think it was blonde, but I could be getting mixed up with my adoptive mother."

"I remember my parents, kind of," Barrel said, going deep in to his memories to try and picture his parents faces, "They were really young," The youngest trick or treater said, squinting so he could remember better, "Like they weren't kids, but they weren't adults-Oww!"

Zero laid on the floor, and covered his eyes. He just couldn't bare to watch a poor child being tortured by Jack's poor hair dressing skills any longer.

"Sorry," Jack said.

"It's okay," Barrel said shyly, before going on with his story, "I remember they fought a lot."

"You're parents?" The master of fright questioned, just barely brushing the boys hair now, out of fear he was going to hurt him.

"Yeah-ouch!, they argued a lot," Barrel said blankly, trying to remember what his family always argued about, but with no success.

"Sorry! And are you sure they were you're parents? Maybe you're mistaking them as you're sibling," Jack suggested.

"No, they were my parents, I know they were," Barrel said matter-a-factly, until Jack tugged at another knock, and the child couldn't help but flinch.

"Sorry!- And I'm impressed Barrel, you remember more then most," Jack said with a smile.

"Yeah! That's pretty cool!" The little boy said, looking up at the master of fright.

"Very cool," The pumpkin king said, putting a hand under the boys chin for a moment, before continued to brush his hair, which was surprisingly thick, "So, are you excited to go to the ball tonight?" Jack asked.

Barrel just shrugged, "Well umm It's kind of girly, oww!"

Jack whirled Barrel around so he could brush out and style his bangs, "Sorry again! And Why's it girly?"

"Because you have to get all fancy."

"What's wrong with being fancy?" Jack chuckled.

"It's girly," Barrel giggled.

"Now Barrel, tonight you are going to walk in to town hall, and you are going to be one of the most dashing gentlemen there, and all the girls will be looking at you, and just wishing you'd ask them to dance," He stopped doing his hair, and lifted his chin, "And that's not girly, that's charming, and exciting, and what being a young gentlemen like yourself is all about."

"Yuck!" Barrel spat, scrunching up his face at the thought, "That's just gross Jack."

The master of fright just laughed, and continued to work at his hair, "Someday," He whispered.

"Nope, never!" Barrel said seriously.

"Never say never," Jack chuckled, whirling Barrel back around to face the mirror, "Now hold still."

"Why?"

"Because I'm going to put some gel in your hair."

Barrel cringed when he felt the weird substance being worked threw his precious hair. He kept his eyes slammed shut, not wanting to see how badly Jack was ruining his perfect hair. He just hoped this gunk would wash out.

Meanwhile Sally was watching Lock work at his hair.

"Need help?" The rag doll asked politely.

"I don't think so," Lock called back, working on his iconic hairstyle.

Sally stepped a little closer to him, "You're hair looks nice Lock, really it does," She put a hand on his shoulder, "But tonight everyone is doing something a little difference, so maybe you'd like to try something just a tiny bit different," Lock turned, and gave her a look, "Just try," Sally explained, "And if you don't like it, you can style it back to the way you like."

The young devil looked at her for a couple more seconds, but then decided to just trust her, "Alright," He said with a shrug, handing her the comb, "I'll trust you."

And with that Sally started to carefully work at his perfectly smooth, red locks, making sure not to pull. She mostly worked on the two sections of hair that he always brushed out for horns, but instead she combed them back, and flipped the ends of them up in the back like a cow lick.

"What do you think?" She asked nervously.

Lock opened his eyes, and inspected his hair. He still preferred the horns, but this would do just fine, "Pretty sharp," He admitted, now admiring himself in the mirror.

"You look very handsome," Sally said sweetly, putting her hands on his shoulders, "Such a charming devil."

"Oh yeah!" Lock said confidently, "Think someone would want to dance with me?"

"Well, I'll dance with you," Sally said kindly, giving Lock a light kiss on the check, which made the young devil blush.

He would have been embarrassed if he wasn't so stupidly happy at the moment. Maybe this ball wouldn't be so bad after all...

 **I hope everyone enjoyed. This chapter didn't really end where I wanted it to, but that's fine, I'll just put it all in my next chapter. I can't promise when my next chapter will be posted, but I'll try to do it within a week, but no promises. Also to my readers, I know it's taking longer to post chapter, but I promise to finish this story. That is my promise to my readers. I won't leave you guys high and dry, that's just unfair and mean to you guys lol. Also if you guys are looking for awesome Lock, Shock, and Barrel stories, I would HIGHLY recommended checking out some of trilliumwoods stories. Her stories are awesome, and she is extremely talented, and I get a lot of inspiration from her! Also to my readers, if you'd like to write your own fanfic, feel free to take any of my ideas and turn them in to your own, that would be 100% fine with me. Anyways guys, thanks again! And I promise to update soon! :)**


	28. Chapter 22 part 2

**It is 1:52am as I'm typing this, but yay! This chapter is finally done! So sorry for the wait guys! And thanks soo much for all the reviews once again. I love you all! I just found out yesterday when I got my laptop checked out that my hard drive would be ready to burn out on any given day, so luckily I was able to backup all my documents before that happened. Phew. I would have cried If I had to rewrite this chapter lol.**

 **Also, I see on the news there is a lot of crazy weather going around in the world, so from Canada, I hope all of you are safe and okay! Sorry once again for the long update, but enjoy guys!**

 **I don't owe anything to do with nightmare before christmas.**

 _ **Chapter 22 part two**_

"Are you going to open your eyes now?"

"No," Barrel said, childishly covering his eyes with his hands, refusing to see how badly the pumpkin king ruined precious his hair.

"It looks good, I promise," Jack said brightly, "Doesn't he look good Zero?"

The dog barked encouragingly, wagging his tail happily. But that still wasn't enough to convince Barrel.

"It feels stupid, and weird," The littlest ex boogie boy muffled.

"Come on, don't you trust me?"

"It's a little hard to trust a hair dresser that doesn't have any hair, no offence Jack."

"None taken," The master of fright smiled, "But honestly Barrel, after all that pain you've endured, you don't even want to see the end result?"

"I don't know what endured means, so no," Barrel mumbled, "I feel stupid," He whined.

"If you don't like it, it can be washed out," The pumpkin king sighed, lightly taking the five year old's wrists, pulling his hands away from his face, "but it doesn't look _stupid,_ it looks very handsome."

Barrel let him pull his wrists away, and he slowly opened his eyes, fearfully.

When he opened, he scanned himself in the mirror, unsure what to really think. It was all spiked in the centre, kind of like a mo-hawk. It was weird, and different, but in another way it actually looked sort of cool.

"Do you like it?" Jack asked, trying not to sound nervous. He really didn't want to have to wash everything out and start all over again. He didn't really have time for all that again.

Barrel turned and looked at him and smiled, giving him a sincere nod, "It's cool!" He said brightly.

"Good," Jack said, taking a sigh of relief.

Meanwhile downstairs Sally was helping Lock button up his bright red, silk vest, that she had made for him.

"This already too hot," Lock complained, "Do I have to wear the black jacket with it?"

Sally gave him a sympathetic look, "If it gets to hot you can take it off," She said sweetly, now handing him the final piece to his tux. It really was a lot of clothes to wear at once, a long sleeved white shirt, black dress pants, a vest, and then a heavy black jacket, and Sally knew he was going to hate the tie.

"I hope it's cooler outside," Lock breathed, while slipping in to his black tux.

"It is," Sally said, now pulling, and straightening out the tux so everything looked perfect.

"Good," Lock mumbled, "So, is that it?"

"Almost," Sally smiled, now pulling out some red cuff-links from her dress pocket.

"Gee Sally," Lock said, trying not to be mean, "They're real nice and all, but I don't wear earnings."

"They're not earnings," The rag doll chuckled, "they're cuff-links, they go on your white shirt sleeves."

"Why?" Lock asked, while Sally put one on his right arms shirt sleeve. Once she was finished with the first one, Lock lifted his arm to look, "What's the point?" He questioned, while Sally put the other one on.

"It just looks nice," Sally said brightly.

"I guess," Lock muffled, now inspecting both his wrists, "Is that it?"

Sally smiled at him weakly, "Almost, saved the best for last," She held up the tie, and to no surprise Lock rolled his eyes.

"I forgot about that stupid thing," He complained, "I mean you did a nice job making it Sally, but they look so uncomfortable, do I have to wear it?"

"I won't tie it around tight, I promise," The rag doll said, kneeling down to put the final piece on.

She kept to her word, and it wasn't that tight, but still. Something about a piece of fabric tied around Locks throat made him feel very uncomfortable. Why did guys always get it so rough and have to wear such uncomfortable junk anyways?

When he was finally done, the young devil took a moment to start at himself in the mirror, to see if all these layers of uncomfortable clothes were worth it. And when he seen his refection, he did have to admit he looked pretty sharp.

Lock and Sally came stepping out of the bathroom just when Jack and Barrel came stepping downstairs. Barrel also looked pretty sharp in his fancy get up.

Barrel wore a white long sleeved shirt like Lock did, but Barrels vest was a bright blue silk material, and his cuff-links were a matching blue. Like Locks, Barrel wore black dress pants, and a black jacket over his vest. He didn't have a tie though, instead Barrel wore a blue bow-tie with red and white poke-a-dots. Originally, he wanted a red bow-tie with white poke-a-dots, but decided he like more colour, and the blue matched the rest of his suit a lot better.

"Very nice!" Sally said brightly, "Both of you look very dashing."

Lock, and Barrel both stood a little straighter, actually feeling pretty confident in themselves. Both of them had agreed for weeks now that this whole ball was a stupid idea, but now they were starting to have a change of heart. Maybe it was going to be pretty cool after all, and even if it wasn't, at least they both looked pretty cool.

Shock came stepping out of the living, and immediately pointed in the direction of the boys,"You both look like dorks!" Now pointing and laughing at them, like it was the funniest thing she ever saw in her life.

Barrel would have spoken up, but he didn't have a clever comeback. He waited to see what Lock would say first, so then he could add on to it, but to Barrel's surprise, and disappointment, Lock didn't say anything.

Lock really had to bite his tongue not to say anything rude back. Last thing he wanted to do was ruin his bet with Jack right when the stakes just got higher this morning, with now two cups of coffee he had at stake rather then just one.

"Shock, in the living room, now," Jack said sternly, which threw Lock for a loop. Could it really be, the favourite was actually going to get a famous, Jack Skellington lecture?

"Why?" Shock argued.

"I'll tell you in the living room, now go," The master of fright ordered.

"Whatever," She snorted, rolling her eyes, and turning back to the living room.

With that, Jack marched into the living room behind her, closing the sliding door behind him.

Shock sat with her arms crossed, and her feet resting on the coffee table. She couldn't understand what the big deal was, she called Barrel and Lock names all the time, what's the difference in calling them a name today?

Jack took a seat in his arm chair, and gave Shock a unreadable face.

"What?" Shock growled, annoyed with the awkward silence.

"What you said wasn't very nice to Lock, or Barrel, and I expect you to apologize to both of them," Jack said confidently, but he was a little unsure on what to say if she refused. Out of the three of them, Shock was the trickiest one to punish, or lecture. Lock had pointed out earlier that Shock was Jack's favourite, which wasn't the least bit true. He loved each of them for very different reasons, because all three of them were very different people. And because they were so different, parental methods worked differently on each child.

Yelling worked on all three of them, but Jack disliked yelling, and tried to avoid it when he could. Being stern, and straight to the point almost always worked on Lock, while on Shock it didn't. She always got so defensive, and upset, and it would only make matters worse. While being stern on Barrel did work, Jack always had to beat around the bush a little bit to avoid getting him overwhelmed, and overthinking, and getting upset. While beating around the bush for Lock didn't work, he'd just laugh it off and ignore everything Jack was trying to tell him. So it wasn't about having favourites, or treating one child better then the other, it was doing what worked, and getting the point a crossed.

"It was just a joke," Shock explained, "besides, they do look weird all dressed up," She said, scrunching up her face.

"It's a formal event, they're supposed to look nice. Besides, how would you feel if you came downstairs all dressed up and they laughed at you like that?"

Shock shrugged, "They are going to make fun of me though, because they always do. Especially Lock. He's going to call me a girly girl or something, and Barrel's going to join in with him, so I thought I'd get the first laugh."

"They won't laugh at you," Jack said sincerely.

Shock just rolled her eyes. Didn't Jack know she was talking about Lock, and Barrel? Or was his mind off in Christmas town again?

"I'll make sure they won't," The pumpkin king said seriously, noticing the eye roll, "But you need to apologize to them first."

Shock rolled her eyes again, "I don't see why I have to."

"Because," Jack explained, still calm, but sounding slightly more stern in his voice, "What you did was wrong. Young ladies like yourself do not call people names and laugh at them, so I'm giving you the choice, either apologize, or be punished. It's up to you," Shock was about to talk, but Jack went on, "Plus, if you choose the punishment, you'll still have to apologies, so again, it's up to you."

Shock gave Jack a cold stare. It seemed so unfair having to apologies, when she knew perfectly well that Barrel and Lock were just going to make fun of her later, but on the other hand, if they made fun of her, Jack would probably force them too apologize as well, or punish them. So she decided to just swallow her own pride and get it over with. She'd have to do it either way. So much for favouritism...

"Fine," She said unwillingly, hoping down from the coach, and marching back into the entry way, "Sorry I said you looked like dorks!" She shouted, sounding more annoyed, then apologetic, "There! I said it!" She yelled, turning to Jack, who just came stepping out of the living room.

"How sincere," Lock sneered, crossing his arms, and waging his tail back and forth, clearly aggregated.

Shock gave him one of the biggest eye rolls she could possibly do, "Oh, like any of your apologies are ever sincere."

"Well, I haven't had to apologize to you recently," Lock fired back rather smugly, "Because I haven't called you a _single_ mean name in days."

Shock glared at him, while trying to remember the last time he called her a name. Even she had to admit, for Lock, that was rather impressive, "Well, then," She finally spoke, "Call me a name then, so we can both be even."

"No," Lock said, unsure on what else to really say, since he wasn't allowed to say anything mean.

"Why not?" Shock tested, almost taunting him.

Lock turned to Jack, who was leaning against the doorway of the living room, carefully watching how this little spat was going to go. The young devil then turned back to his friend, giving her a devious grin, "Because I'm a gentlemen," Lock sneered back, in a voice far to polite, and sticking his nose in the air, while pulling at his tie like he was some kind of rich snob. He turned and looked back at the pumpkin king, how gave him a grin, and a nod of approval. Jack couldn't have been any prouder of him.

Shock on the other hand was infuriated, "Oh whatever!" She finally decided to hiss, turning on her healing, and storming past Jack, and back into the living room. Angry with Lock, but mostly angry with herself for allowing him to now win both battles they had so far today.

Barrel have to cover his mouth from laughing. If Shock heard just one small giggle, he knew too well that she'd coming flying back in and take a strip or two off him.

Sally smiled shyly, "I can talk to her," She said sweetly, "But you three better get in to town."

Jack nodded in agreement, "Then we'll see you later my dear!" He said brightly, going over to the front door and holding it open for Lock, and Barrel.

Sally waved goodbye, before turning toward the living room to try and cheer Shock up a bit.

Meanwhile, Jack, Lock, and Barrel just arrived to town hall. Jack decided it was best to drive there, just to decrease the chances of Lock or Barrel getting even a speck of something on their new clothes.

"How come you wouldn't give me a chance to drive?" Lock complained, getting out of the car.

"Ten more years and maybe I'll consider it," Jack said, while holding the car door open for the two of them, "Eleven for you though Barrel."

Barrel frowned, while hoping out of his seat, "Why do I have to wait longer?"

"Because you're younger stup- I mean Barrel," Lock corrected, glancing right away up at Jack, to confirm that no bet was broken.

Jack gave him a nod. Name calling was something the master of fright knew was a bad habit for the trio, but he had to admit Lock was doing surprisingly well.

"Well, why do I have to be younger?" Barrel asked, following the pumpkin king and Lock into town hall.

"Because you died last," Lock grumbled, quickly losing patients with Barrel's stupid questions .

Barrel looked up at Jack, who was just unlocking the door to town hall, "How long ago did you die Jack?" He asked innocently.

Jack smirked at him, before opening the doors, "Oh no, I'm not telling you that," He chuckled.

"Why not?" Lock asked, now terribly curious.

"Because I'm old," Jack grinned, now flickering on the lights inside the hall.

"How old?" Barrel questioned, trudging behind the pumpkin king.

"Older then you," Jack said playfully, now trying to remember when he was five, or six.

"Awh, come on Jack," Lock complained, "You know our ages, I think it's only fair we know yours."

The master of fright cleared his throat before he spoke, "Because I remember when the three of you arrived as babies, actually, some where's I have a picture of each of you after you arrived, in one picture I'm holding you, and the mayor is in another. I'll have to find that book."

"You have a book?" Lock questioned, mentally trying to picture the mayor out of all people holding a younger version of himself. He had to see it to believe it.

"Yep, I think it's back at the manor actually."

"Why?" Lock asked, while Jack was unlocking his office door now.

Jack opened up the door, and flicked on the lights, "Because it's good to keep record of that sort of thing, and a new baby is always something very exciting."

"You're saying the town was actually excited, and made a fuss over us once?" Lock asked, completely dumbfounded.

Jack sat at his desk, and began sorting threw papers, "Of course," He said simply, smiling to himself at the memories of when they were just little babies, "You were all so cute."

"So we're ugly now?" Lock asked, crossing his arms.

"Course not," Jack said softly, "You're both now handsome, young gentlemen, which reminds me," He gestured to the chairs in front of his desk, "take a seat, I need to have a little talk with the two of you."

Lock raised his eye brows, "Another lecture?" He groaned.

"No, just a talk," Jack said calmly, "So please, take a seat."

Lock and Barrel both looked at each other, rolling their eyes before taking their usual seats. Jack could change the words around however he wanted, but Lock, and Barrel weren't that dumb. If they've learned anything about their pumpkin king, they learned that talks, and lectures were always basically the same thing.

Jack couldn't help but be slightly amused by their restless little faces. Funny thing, the trick or treaters were probably the only people in town that were always so uninterested when the master of fright had something to say to them.

The master of fright placed his elbows on his desk, and slipped his long fingers together, while looking at the two children, "Are you excited for tonight?" The pumpkin king asked.

Both the boys just shrugged. Truth be told, both them actually were pretty excited, but they were both too embarrassed to admit that. They still had it stuck inside their heads that balls were girly, and neither one of them wanted someone to think that they were in to all that sissy stuff.

Jack grinned at them. He knew for a fact that both them were just trying to cover up their enthusiasm, but it was too late for that. He already say how excited they both looked at the manor, when they saw themselves all dressed up for the first time.

"Going to dance with anyone?" The pumpkin king continued to ask, to try and get some reaction from the two of them.

Both them shyly shook their heads. Both them felt very uncomfortable with that question, for two very different reasons. Barrel was a bit of a nervous wreck when it came to doing things that required him to be steady or stable on his awkward, and weird shaped feet. And after knocking over a bunch of the witches potions that one time a couple weeks ago, he decided to avoid doing any kind of unusual things on his feet, and dancing was one of them.

Lock on the other hand had no fear of dancing. He was more afraid of telling the pumpkin king that he was planning to dance with his girlfriend. The young devil didn't know much about relationships, but he was pretty sure dancing with someone's girlfriend would make them pretty upset, or mad. On the other hand though, Sally asked him, and even kissed him. So maybe she was loosing interest in Jack, which who could blame her? Jack was pretty boring, and lame. And while Lock was only that thought, a question sparked in his head.

"Are you ever going to marry Sally?" The young devil blurted, and Barrel turned to Jack, also curious on his answer.

Jack's was completely thrown for a loop, and his face was nothing but embarrassment. Where on earth did that question even come from? And how was he supposed to answer that question, when he didn't ever overly know the answer? "Well, maybe," He said awkwardly, unsure on what else to really say.

"You don't know?" Lock said, sounding slightly annoyed. If he didn't know, why was he leading Sally on like that? She definitely could do better.

"Do you love her?" Barrel questioned innocently.

Jack scratched his skull nervously, "Course I do," He said, deciding to answer honestly.

Lock crossed his arms, and raised an eyebrow, "Then if you love her, why don't you just marry her?"

The master of fright shrugged, "We're enjoying what we have for right now," He said simply, and again, honestly.

"But you already live together," Barrel whispered, also confused. All Jack had to do was put a ring on her finger? Was he afraid of commitment? Or maybe, the youngest ex boogie boy thought, maybe Jack didn't want to share his room, or his bed. That was understandable. Course if that was the case, Barrel seen no reason why they had to share a room. Sally was pretty reasonable, and she had her own bedroom at the manor anyways. Not all married couples had to share a room. If it were Barrel, he wouldn't share his bed with anyone.

"And would if she loses interest?" Lock continued to question.

"Why would she lose interest?" Jack chocked, now starting to feel slightly insecure. She wouldn't really lose interest...would she?

Lock just shrugged, "Because maybe she wants a ring," He said simply.

"You know if you married her, you wouldn't have to worry about her losing interest," Barrel pointed out, "Because once you're married, it's forever."

"Or does the word forever _scare_ you Jack?" Lock questioned sharply.

The pumpkin king was at a lose at what to even say. How did he even get roped in to this conversation? And why was he even having this conversation with a six year old, and a five year old? They didn't even know a single thing about love, or marriage, so why was Jack feeling so intimidated, and nervous?

"I thought all that marriage and love stuff grossed you two out," The master of fright fired back, trying to gain some control over the conversation, and feel less intimidated.

"Yeah," Barrel said shyly, "but that's why we're not in a relationship."

"Plus, aren't we a little young to be getting married?" Lock grumbled, "While you on the other hand, are a little old not to be married?"

Jack raised an eyebrow, "So once a person hits a certain age they should be married?" He questioned, with good humour. Both boys nodded, so Jack went on, "So when you're both adults, you are going to be married? Am I correct?"

"How should we know?" Lock asked, "That's a lifetime away."

"Only a few years," Jack pointed out.

"I hope not," Barrel whispered, "I don't wanna share my room," He gazed up at Jack, "Is that why you don't wanna marry Sally?"

Jack roared with laughter, "That's it," He said between breaths, "You see I snore," He explained with an amused grin, "And I don't know if Sally's ready to deal with that issue forever."

Before Lock could continued to torture Jack with his questions about marriage, and his relationship, there was a small knock at the door.

"Come in," Jack called, almost a little too excited. Finally a loop hole out of this whole conversation.

The mayor came pecking threw the door, "Good day Jack," He said shyly, while the two trick or treaters stared him down, "I just had a couple of things to go over with you in my office for the ball tonight, if you wouldn't mind joining me."

"I'll be there in a minute, close the door behind you please," Jack said, rather coldly.

With that the mayor closed the door.

"I'm not going in the mayors office," Lock spat.

"Me neither," Barrel agreed.

"That's fine," Jack said, getting up from his seat, "You don't have too, you two can stay here, while I go work with him for the things for the ball."

"Well how long is that going to take?" Lock asked.

"And hour or so, maybe two."

"I don't wanna sit in here for two hours," Lock complained, crossing his arms stubbornly.

"Can't we go outside or something?" Barrel asked, agreeing with Lock.

"Well I don't want you two ruining your clothes," Jack said softly.

Lock rolled his eyes in annoyance, "We won't."

"Yeah!" Barrel added, "We'll be careful Jack, promise."

"We'll probably just blow some of those exploring bubbles the doctor gave us yesterday," Lock murmured back. And Barrel nodded in agreement.

The master of fright eyed them carefully, "Well, alright," He finally decided, hoping he wouldn't regret this, "But not even a speck of dirt is to get on the two of you, if that understood?" They both nodded, "Okay then, well run along, but stay close, and off the road."

With that Lock and Barrel raced out of the office, and Jack tried not to cringe. It was a horrible idea to let them play outside in their nice clothes, but on the other hand, it was only bubbles? Barrel had showed them to Jack after breakfast today, and the master of fright couldn't think of any possible situation on how they could get dirty playing with them. Jack actually was planning on thanking the doctor was inventing an actual toy that the trick or treaters actually enjoyed playing with that wouldn't hurt anyone else. It still made a loud bang, but at least it wouldn't knock someone out with a rock like a slingshot.

Jack got up from his seat and turned to look out the window, to watch the two boys play. Just harmless play (for once). He was starting to feel slightly more confident in his decision. Course they'd be careful playing outside, they said they would be. Besides, Jack was trusting them to behave at the ball tonight, so he should be able to trust them to play outside blowing bubbles for an hour or two and be perfectly fine.

They would be okay. The pumpkin king finally decided, turning away from the window. Maybe it was time he started to relax a little more. He had to trust them sooner or later.

And with that thought, Jack smiled to himself, and turned to leave his office to speak with the mayor.

Meanwhile Shock was angrily flipping threw the TV stations, and mumbling something along the lines of, "Stupid Lock," to herself.

"Shock?" Sally said softly, wobbling in to the living room, "Would you like to start getting ready?"

"I don't wanna go anymore," She grumbled, still looking at the TV.

Sally took a seat on the other end of the couch, "Well why not?" She questioned sweetly.

"Lock's going to make fun of me," She murmured, tossing the remote aside, "And Barrel's gonna laugh."

"You'll look too beautiful for anyone to laugh."

"Yeah right," Shock snorted, turning to the rag doll.

"So you just want to sit at home alone, and miss out on all the fun because you're afraid of what two boys are going to think?" Sally questioned simply.

Shock turned away from Sally, and stubbornly crossed her arms, "I don't care what anyone thinks of me," She lied.

"In that case, you shouldn't care that I think you're acting silly about this whole thing, right?" Sally asked politely.

Shock snapped her head back around to face Sally, "How am I acting silly?" She growled.

"Because," Sally explained, "I see this absolutely beautiful girl moping on the couch, worrying about what others are going to think, when she should be upstairs putting on that beautiful dress of hers, and admiring how pretty she is in the mirror, and then going to the ball and allowing others to admire how stunning she is."

"You're just saying that because your nice," Shock grumbled, turning away from the rag doll.

Sally got up, and walked over to where the little girl was sitting, and knelled down and genitally lifted her chin, "No I'm not," She said, looking right in to the little witches eyes, "I'm saying that because it's the truth. And let me tell you Shock, when you go to the ball tonight, you're going to make every girl there including myself, glow with green envy. You're so beautiful, I wish your eyes would see what I see." Sally said sincerely.

Shock looked at Sally for a second, before smiling, "Well in that case, I guess I should start getting ready," She said, sounding almost cheerfully, and excited. She got up, and quickly followed the rag doll upstairs.

Meanwhile outside Lock and Barrel were harmlessly sitting on the steps outside town hall blowing bubbles. Both them were extra careful on where they sat, brushing off any dirt before sitting down. Honestly, this was the time they wished the pumpkin king was around, because he wold have been so proud of them for being so careful.

"Hey Lock!" Barrel nudged, "There's that big dumb corpse kid and bat boy over there!" The littlest trick or treater pointed over towards the market, where the two other children were just leaving, "Lets go over there and try to scare them with these!" Barrel suggested excitedly, holding up his bottle of exploding bubbles.

As tempting as it was to go over and try and rough them two of them up (especially since Ethan was now afraid of Lock, after punching him in the face) The young devil didn't think it would be a good idea to go over there, and risk saying something mean and losing his bet with Jack. He really wanted to, but he knew he might not be in control of his mouth if he did. But he also didn't want to spoil Barrels fun either.

"You go over," Lock suggested, "And I'll watch and laugh from here, promise."

Barrel just shrugged and ran over. Lock knew for a fact Barrel wasn't going to start a fight with them or anything, Barrel was to harmless and easygoing. He was just going to sneak up behind them and try and scare them with the loud bang, and laugh. It might make them mad, but Lock doubted it would turn in to a fight.

The littlest ex boogie boy did exactly what Lock had predicted. The two older children jumped at the sound, and whipped their head around when they seen the smallest of the terrible trio giggling behind them.

"You should have seen your faces!" Barrel continued to giggle, now screwing the top back on his bottle of bubbles.

"What the heck was that?" Gustov (Bat boy) Breathed, trying to calm his nerves from the horrible bang.

"Exploding bubbles!" Barrel said brightly, holding up the bottle, "The doctor made them!"

"Can I see?" Ethan asked, holding out a pudgy hand.

Barrel looked at him reluctantly, he didn't overly care for the corpse kid. He was Shock's age, and big and intimidating like Lock. Lock might be able to slap Ethan around, but Barrel knew he'd never stand a chance against the bigger kid. So he decided it was best to just hand the bottle over so he could look. What was the worst that could happen?

Well like usual Barrel spoke too soon, because the nasty and mean corpse kid chucked the bottle of bubbles up in the air, and hit the roof top of one of the towns buildings, and rolled down into the gutter of the roof.

Lock had saw the whole thing, and decided that was taking things a little too far. He slammed his bottle of bubbles down on the steps and marched over to where Barrel, and the two now laughing bullies were standing.

"Hey!" The young devil growled. His sharp, frighting voice shut both Ethan and Gustov up. Neither one of them had realized that Barrel had company. "I hope you have a plan on getting that down!" Lock yelled forcefully, pointing in the direction of the gutter, and getting right in Ethan's face. What business did that big dumb corpse have with bullying someone as little as Barrel anyways?

"And if he doesn't?" Gustov tested, shoving in between Lock and Ethan, and looking the young devil right in the eye.

Lock bit his lip. He had a couple ways he could make Ethan and bat boy get them, but all them resorted to threats and violence. And if he did resort to any of that, there was no doubt that Jack would find out because the Corpse kid was a big snitch. And Lock couldn't tell on Ethan either, because Barrel was technically the one that started it, and Lock didn't want to risk getting Barrel in trouble.

The young devil scanned the building, and noticed a ladder leaning against it. It was too perfect.

"Forget it," Lock growled, turning away from Ethan and Gustov, and looked at Barrel, "I'll go get it myself," He decided stubbornly. It seemed only logically that he go climb on the roof and get the bottle after all. With the terms and agreement he had with Jack, he didn't want to risk losing those two cups of coffee, so he couldn't threaten anyone (he assumed threatening to beat the tar out of someone would be classified as rude, or unnecessary) He couldn't tattle, because he didn't want to get Barrel in trouble. Besides, Sally told Lock before that anything with a good intention at heart was never a mistake or a screw up. So logically, if Jack caught him balancing on a roof, he shouldn't be mad because Lock was only doing it for Barrel. Besides, the pumpkin king wanted Lock to look out for Barrel more anyways. And Lock was going to look pretty cool balancing on top of a roof. That would show those two big dumb bullies. Really, this idea was a win-win, no matter what way Lock looked at it.

Barrel grabbed on to his friends arm, "You can't go up there, you'll break your neck!"

Lock slapped his friend off him, "I'll be fine! We've been on top of roofs before, and if I remember correctly, it was you that almost broke your neck, not me."

With that, Barrel nervously back off, while Ethan and Gustov watched with amusement. Watching Lock break his neck would be a real sight to see, and they didn't wanna miss it.

Lock, with all the confidence in the world, climbed up on the Ladder, and climbed up on the roof. At first it was a piece of cake to keep his balance, until he started walking downward, that's when things got tricky. It got more frightening with every step closer to the edge. Even though Lock was a bit of a daredevil, he was starting to second guess if this was really that great of an idea. He's couldn't wimp out now though, because now he had an audience, and he wasn't going to risk being called a chicken for the rest of his life. No way! He was no chicken! He could do this! Piece of cake!

He continued to shuffle his way down the roof, until he was within reach of Barrel's bottle of bubbles. He crouched down, with one hand he tried to dig his nails into the roof, while with his other hand he carefully reached for the bubbles. First try he grabbed them. He smiled to himself, and looked down at Barrel, Ethan, and Gustov, and held up the bottle just to show off. But before he could hear the applause, he lost all Balance, and literally rolled off the roof with a somersault.

Acting before thinking, Lock manged to grab on to the gutter with his free hand, and hang off the side of the roof. He swung his other hand up, and set the bubbles back in the gutter, so he could use his other hand to hold himself up, but right when he grabbed onto the gutter with his other hand, the metal bent. And Lock went plumbing into the bushes below. He didn't even get a chance to scream because everything happened so fast.

Lock was glad the bushes were there to break the impact, but the branches were so sharp! And stabbed into his now aching back. And when he thought things couldn't get worse, the bottle of bubbles came falling down as well, and whacked him right in the mouth.

"Ow," He groaned, deciding to just admit defeat, and lay in the bushes for a couple seconds. At least he got the bubbles down.

Ethan and Gustov roared with laughter, while Barrel ignored them, and came rushing over to Lock's aid.

"Lock! Are you okay?" Barrel screamed in panic, shoving threw the bushes to get to his friend.

"I think so," Lock mumbled, slowly getting up into a sitting position. He looked up at Barrel, and everything felt like it was spinning, "That hurt," He muffled, now holding his head.

"I'll go get Jack," Barrel announced, about to take off.

"No!" Lock shouted, grabbing Barrel's arm, "I'm fine! Just help me up!" He said, trying to shake off his dizziness. Lock was now slowly starting to realize, that even though he had a lot of great reasons for walking on top of a roof, Jack was still probably going to be pretty mad if he found out about it. Especially since Lock just fell off. And Lock really didn't feel like listening to yet another lecture.

Barrel pulled Lock up, and out of the bushes, "How do you feel?" Barrel asked anxiously.

"Fine," Lock lied, running his tongue other his mouth, and realizing something else was wrong, "My front tooth is loose," The young devil said, wiggling it with his tongue.

"Didn't you just loose that tooth, and it just grew back?" Barrel asked, inspecting the tooth.

"I thought so," Lock said, continuing to wiggle it, "This is going to drive me crazy!" He now complained, "Here, try and punch it out!" He said, opening his mouth wide.

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Barrel asked reluctantly.

Lock rolled his eyes, "You haven't lost a tooth yet, so you don't realize how incredibly annoying this is, come on, it won't hurt. Just knock the tooth out."

Barrel sighed, but did as he was told. With the hardest punch he could muster, he swung his fist right towards Lock's mouth. But the little ghouls aim was far from great, and he ended up mistakenly punching Lock right in the eye.

"Ow!" Lock screamed, and without thinking shoved Barrel, knocking the little boy right in to a mud puddle.

Ethan and Gustov roared with laughter at the sight.

"Lock!" Barrel yelled over the laughing, "You ruined my suit!" He cried, trying to get up from the mud puddle, but slipping back in to it, and making things worse.

"You gave me a black eye!" Lock fired back, now with a hand against his right eye, that was rapidly turning into a huge black and blue bruise, "I mean sorry," He said, looking down at his littlest cohort that was struggling to get up from the mud, "But who the heck taught you how to punch like that?!"

Before Barrel could answer, they heard a door open and shut from town hall. Lock and Barrel both froze in their spots, while Ethan and Gustov took off.

"Lock? Barrel?" Jack called casually, coming around the coroner of the building. When he finally found them he was completely livid. He couldn't decide what to be angry about first, Lock with a black eye, and sticks and branches in his hair, or Barrel completely covered in mud.

"Hi Jack," Lock said shyly, giving the pumpkin king a nervous grin.

And just when Jack had to fight ever nerve in his body to try and not to loss his mind, Locks perfect pointy, white, front tooth fell out...

 **I hope everyone enjoyed my newest chapter! Thank you to Trilliumwoods for allowing me to use her idea of Lock loosing a tooth (From her story, "The continuing adventures of Lock, Shock and Barrel, which to mention, I ADORE) the idea of Barrel punching Lock in the eye was actually from my one of my favourite childhood memories, when I was five or six, and had a loose tooth, and asked a kid on my bus to punch it out for me. He agreed, but then missed and punched me in the eye XD, I had a big black eye afterwards LOL. Also, I hope this chapter kind of clears up the whole favouritism thing. Lock might get in trouble the most, but that's because I feel like through out the story he's been the one to start trouble the most. He's not anyone's least favourite by any means, but I just view Lock as being one of those people that always needs to learn things the hard way (Poor Lock lol) So anyways, I hope you all enjoyed, I am going to bed now lol. And see you all in my next update! Cheers!**


	29. Chapter 23

_**It's taken way to long for this chapter so I will not waste anyone time in the intro! Please enjoy to whoever is still reading!**_

 _ **Chapter 23**_

"I can explain," Barrel said desperately, before Jack started to yell.

Jack knew if he spoke he was going to lose it. So rather then speak, he decided to act.

He snatched the tooth from Locks hands, then grabbed both boys by the wrists and dragged them to his car. Forcefully he buckled them both in, and stepped on the gas.

Lock and Barrel both stared at either other with terror. They had never seen Jack this angry. Not even when they brought back the Easter Bunny by mistake.

The pumpkin king slammed on the breaks, dragged both children out of the car, and up to the doctors front door.

The master of fright pounded on the door three times before the doctor invited him in.

"Why Jack, what a pleasant surprise."

"I wish I could say the same," He growled.

The old man eyed both the children, "What on earth happened to this little one?" He asked, pointing at Barrel.

"He will have some explaining to do after," Jack said sharply, making Barrel wince at the thought. "But first,I need you to take care this one," He said pointing to Lock.

"Oh my, look at that black eye!"

It gets worse. Go on Lock," Jack scolded, "Open your mouth."

To afraid not too, Lock did as he was told.

"Was it a baby tooth?"

Jack shook his head.

"Do you have the tooth he lost?"

"Yes doctor, it's right here. Do you think you will be able to put it back in before the ball? And do something about that black eye?"

The doctor rubbed his chin for a moment, looking over Locks damage, "It shouldn't be a problem I'm sure. I'll get a few leeches for that black eye, and I should be able to put the tooth back in, and I'll have Igor get some wet rags so you can wash the mud out of Barrel suit."

"Thank you doctor," Jack said with a sigh of relief, "You have idea how much I appreciate your help."

"No trouble at all! I know how kids can be! Come along Lock."

Lock still with his mouth wide opened, and too afraid to close it without Jacks orders, went off to follow the doctor.

Once Igor got the wet rags ready Jack wasted no time cleaning the mud off Barrels suit. He was quite rough about it, but Barrel hadn't complained out of fear of getting into more trouble then he was already in.

"I asked one thing!" The pumpkin king began to lecture, "One small thing! Do not think that just because the two of you are allowed to go to the ball tonight that you will not be punished afterwards. The two of you are in **BIG** trouble. Do you know how upset Sally would be to see the two of you like this?"

"But Jack-"

"But nothing! You two were supposed to be blowing bubbles."

"But-"

"Barrel!" Jack scolded, "I don't want to hear it."

"But we were blowing bubbles!" Barrel spat out, "We were! Then that Ethan kid, and his bat friend came along. I went over to blow one behind them just as a joke, and Ethan asked to see them, I gave them to him, and he threw them on the roof! Lock tried to get them and he fell off! That's what happened!"

Angry still, the master of fright did listen to the child, "Why wouldn't you too come to me?"

"Because we were afraid you were going to be mad for pranking Corpse kid and Bat boy, but it was just a joke Jack, honest!"

"That still doesn't explain how Lock lost his tooth and has a black eye, and why you are all covered in mud."

"After Lock fell the bottle of bubbles fell and hit him in the mouth. He asked me to punch the tooth out because it was loose and would drive him crazy and well," Barrel stammered, "I'm not very good with aim so I sort of punched him in the eye instead. Then he got mad and pushed me in the mud. Then you came outside, Batboy and Corpse Kid ran off and Locks tooth fell out," Barrel took a deep breath, "And I'm sorry, it's all my fault," Barrel stammered, "Sorry," He squeaked."

"Is Lock okay from the fall?" Jack asked, now feeling guilty for not realizing that Lock had fallen from the roof.

"I think so, he had the shrubs break his fall."

"Shrubs!" Jack said in horror.

Quickly his anger turned to guilt an concern. How could he let his anger take over like that? Lock could be really hurt, but Jack didn't take a moment to listen to the child. It was irresponsible of him as their care taker.

As fast as the pumpkin king could he rushed to the doctors office.

"Doctor!" Jack said, swinging the door open without a knock, "I need you to check-"

The pumpkin king noticed the doctor inspecting Locks arm with his sleeve rolled up, "Lock." Jack decided to finish anyways.

"Everything seems to be fine," The doctor reassured both Jack and Lock, "A few bruises and cuts on your arms and legs, but other then that you didn't seem to take too major of a fall. You're a lucky boy."

"Look Jack!" Lock said excitedly, turning around, giving the pumpkin king a big toothy smile.

The master of fright was amazed. All Locks teeth were all in place perfectly, and the black eye was gone.

"Nothing a bit of glue and leeches can't heal," The doctor said rather proudly.

The little devil quivered at the thought of the leeches. He liked slimmy gross things just like any other boy, but he did not like having them stuck to his face, even if they did fix his black eye.

"That's outstanding doctor really, Lock do you feel okay? I heard you took quiet the fall."

Lock shrugged, he was a little sore, but he wouldn't admit it. "I feel great."

"Well then, lets get those branches out of your hair, and lets head to the dance!" The pumpkin king announced excitedly.

To their surprise the boys manged to make it fairly early to the ball. Jack had reassured Lock and Barrel on the way to the ball that he would have a nice chat with corpse kid and bat boy if he ran into them at the dance.

Town hall from the inside had looked outstanding. After weeks of planning, and all the stress it all finally felt all worth it for the pumpkin king.

"When can we eat the food?" Lock asked.

"And have cake!" Barrel said in awe, looking at the massive purple and green layered cake beside the food table.

If Jack had eyes, he would have rolled them. With all the colourful decorations and lights the first thing they notice is the food? He shook his head. Typical kids.

"The cake is for later."

"What about the other food?" Lock grumbled.

"Can't you wait till a bit later. You don't want to dance on a full stomach."

"But I'm hungry," Barrel whined.

"And I can't dance on a empty stomach," Lock added, "I'll have no energy."

"Please Jack," Barrel begged.

"Oh all right," He said, and the boys were already at the table grabbing plates, "But no double dipping!" He called behind them.

After all, the pumpkin king thought, they might as well eat. It was him who was paying for the catering anyways.

"They already have their grubby little hands On the food I see."

The master of fright turned to find the mayor beside him, glaring at the two children.

"Oh mayor, it's not like your paying for it."

"They should be the ones paying for it. After all the damage they've done to the town, and after how much the town has had to pay!"

"They're children, they need adult guidance. They wouldn't have done any damage if we as adults didn't fall short of them in the past. Besides mayor, you said you'd be nice to them," Jack said sharply, "Why don't you go over, say hello?"

"Not after that demon child vomited on my shoes! And where's the other one, there's supposed to be three!"

"Too afraid to say hi to a little five and six year old mayor?" Jack taunted.

"Not at all!" The mayor said pridefully, "I'm mayor of this town, I'm not afraid to go up to those small, bratty little children!"

"Then go, and have a opened mind. They might surprise you."

The mayor, too cowardly to want to go over, but also to prideful not to, reluctantly walked over.

"Hello," He said in a snotty, but fearful tone.

Both Lock and Barrel had turned around, and looked just as unimpressed to see the mayor as he did saying hello, but both knew telling him off or being nasty wasn't worth getting into trouble and ruining their fun night at the ball.

"Hi," Lock and Barrel said at the same time.

It was uncomfortably awkward for the three of them. Lock was almost tempted to throw his plate of food right into his face, but not only would he be in trouble for doing so, but he'd also lose his bet with Jack.

"Excuse us," Lock said rather polity to the mayor instead. In his head what that sentence really meant was, Screw you! Not that no one else knew that was the code words, but it made him feel a little bit better about having to be polite to his moral enemy.

The mayor shocked at the random manners step out of their way so they could go sit.

"Thank you!" Barrel added, chasing after Lock.

"They know manners?" The mayor said rhetorically to himself.

"Oh yes," Jack said from behind him, "Very polite little kids I must say, actually," Jack put his arm on the Mayors shoulder, "Lets go have a real conversation with them." He basically dragged the mayor over to the table the boys were sitting at.

"So I was telling the boys today about how we have pictures of them when they first arrived as babies," Jack said happily to strike conversation.

"Yes,-" The mayor said, unsure on what to say, "They were very young."

Lock looked up from his food and at the Mayor, "Really? I didn't know we were young as babies," He said, clearly being sarcastic, but Jack let it slide because even he thought it was a stupid comment made by the mayor.

"How come there's no pictures of Jack?" Barrel asked with a mouthful of food, not looking up from his plate.

"There is some where's," The mayor said, "They must be up in the attic of town hall."

"That would be cool to see," Lock commented, wondering if perhaps there would also be a photo of Oogie boogie, Sally, and the ruler of Halloween town before Jack.

Barrel nodded in agreement, "That would be cool!" He said excitedly.

"Well they are in the attic for safe keeping," The mayor said sternly, still bitter over the documents that they had destroyed weeks ago, "Our history of Halloween town is very important. We need those books and photos so we can teach the future generations."

Lock raised and eyebrow, "Aren't _we_ the future generation?"

"Well yes I suppose-"

"Do they only teach about Halloween town in the attic?" Barrel asked innocently.

"Well no-," The mayor said awkwardly.

"Then how are we supposed to know how or why Halloween is so important if no one is going to teach us anything about it?" Lock asked, "What's really the point of having books if the people that should be looking at them aren't allowed to?"

Jack was impressed, and surprised with Locks comment. It was a good point. And even the mayor couldn't argue that. How was Lock. Shock, and Barrel supposed to know anything if everyone just keep pushing them aside rather then teach them? They didn't understand how bad their actions were for destroying town hall weeks ago, adults never explained to them the process that goes into planning. If they had known, perhaps they would have thought twice about their actions.

"That's true Lock," Jack said proudly, giving him a pat on the shoulder, "Very wise."

The Mayor was hesitant, but did agree, "Perhaps I can look for the books tomorrow."

"Thanks!" Barrel said brightly, hopping down from his chair, "My plates empty! I'm getting more food!"

"Not before me!" Lock shouted, chasing after the little ghoul.

Jack watched happily before turning to the mayor, "Thank you," The pumpkin king said sincerely, putting his hand on the Mayors shoulder, "That was really nice."

 _ **I would personally like to apologize to all my readers for how crazy long this update took. I really am sorry. About two years ago I did start on this chapter right away like I would any other chapter, but this chapter got deleted on me two of three times, and for me I find it very hard to rewrite chapters. And I got very bad writers block from it. Not to mention that my life has been very busy. When I wasn't working all the time I was out with my boyfriend at the time. I am now in school, and things are just crazy all the time and have been like that for a while. I know this chapter is disappointing, and short, but I was hoping that posting it would help to get me out of the writers block that I have been struggling with with this chapter. I hope you guys enjoyed (if anyone still reads this) I promised you guy 3 years ago I would finish this story, and I still stick to that promise. Sorry again for the wait guys. Glad to be back though. Hopefully this time I'm back to stay till the finish line! Let me know your thoughts 3**_


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